Scientific American Volume 79 Number 13 (September 1898)

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A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, ART. SCIENCE, MECHANICS CHEMISTRY. AND MANUFACTURES.

Vol. LXXIX.-No. 13.1

Established 1845. J

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 24, 1898.

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S3. 00 A Yli'AK.

Weebxy.

THE TBANSSI-
BEBIAN BAIL-
BO AD.

BY HORACE C. HOVEY.

A year ago a
card came to the
writer from St.
Petersburg,
which, on being
deciphered,
proved to be a
pass over the en-
tire system of
Russian railways.

Maps and spe-
cial guide books
accompanied this
favor, and access
was also given to
o ffl c i a 1 reporta
Ours was a geolo-
gical party, and
our errand was to
inspect soils,
fossils, mines, and
quarries ; but we
could not do
otherwise than
take an interest in
the magnificent
iron highways

BAtLWAY STATION AT ZLATOOST, BUSSIA

that carried us
safely from the
western frontier,
across limitless
steppes, over
broad rivers, and
beyond the Ural
Mountains into
Siberia, and then
back again to the
frontier. As we
had a special
train, we escaped
many of the an-
noyances usually
met with by tour-
ists, and enjoyed
every imaginable
courtesy and fa-
cility for making
our trip success-
ful. The paternal
oversight taken
by our officials
was amusing to
those of us who
were accustomed
to American man-
ners, and yet we
^Continued on
page 201.)

ZLATOOST, BUSSIA— WESTERN TEBMINUS OF THE TBANSSIBEBIAN BAILWAT.

© 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

194

Sftitniiixt ^mtxiau.

[September 24, 1898.

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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1898.

OUR NEW POSSESSIONS AS A FIELD FOB

ENGINEERS.

We have been asked to state our opinion as to the
possibilities of our newly acquired possessions as a field
of employment for engineers, both civil and mechani-
cal. There is in our midst a large and rapidly increas-
ing body of young men, graduates from technical
schools and colleges, with more or less practical experi-
ence in the shop or in the field, who think they see in
Cuba, Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Phil-
ippines an immediate field of employment of a more
remunerative kind, and with opportunities for more
rapid promotion, than are possible at home. The ex-
pectation is based upon the conviction that our pos-
session or control of these islands will be followed by
an immediate and extensive development of their nat-
ural resources, in the course of which the services of
the civil and mechanical engineer will be in active de-
mand.

The enterprise and ambition which are likely to send
many professional men to these new fields are highly
commendable ; but we fear that those who hasten there
at once are doomed to much disappointment. While
the next decade is certain to see a wonderful change in
much of our newly acquired territory, the development
will occur in the latter rather than in the former half
of it. We must remember that the Spanish possessions,
at least, have been under the control of one of the most
conservative races in the world, and that the people
of the islands are wedded to old ideas, to customs and
habits that crystallized far back in medieval times.
Before a period of building up there will have to be a
period of pulling down and clearing away, and the pro-
cess, at least in the earlier stages, will necessarily be
slow.

In the reforming and development of the islands the
two extremes of modern civilization will meet, for two
types of character and temperament more opposite
than the Spanish and American it would be difficult
to find. The one is conservative, romantic, and wedded
to tradition, the other is elastic, practical, and su?
pfleuiely utilitarian ; and while it is true that the in-
habitants of these islands are not of pure Spanish
blood, centuries of Spanish rule and customs have
> tamped their impress deeply upon the native islanders.
For these reasons it is unreasonable to expect that the
invasion of these possessions by the railroad, the electric
light, the telephone, and the trolley will be as rapid as
it was in our Western States, where there was an
American population to welcome and assist these prime
movers of an up-to-date civilization.

At the same time it must be borne in mind that the
operations of the engineer, especially in the civil
branches -of the profession, presuppose the employ-
ment of capital on a -vast scale ; and capital is always
shy of investment ii» countries where the government
is in a disturbed condition. Before any large sums are
invested in the construction of railways and highways,
in the improvement or provision of water supply, and
the general sanitation and reconstruction of cities, the
government of the islands must be placed on a satis-
factory basis and prove itself to ba in a thoroughly
stable condition.

When this has been accomplished and thepeople have
adjusted themselves to the new conditions and begun to
realize the increased value of property and sanctity of
personal rights which have come to them by virtue of
the change of government, we may look for an era of
material development such as the world has rarely wit-
nessed. The location and construction of a railroad
system in Cuba alone will call for the services of a very
considerable force of engineers, and the rebuilding of
sugar mills, the installing of electric light and power
plants, the development of mines and other material
resources of the island will present many excellent
openings for young men in electrical and mechanical
engineering.

For the present, however, we would advise those
who are contemplating a trip to one or other of our
possessions to stay at home and watch the course of
events, meanwhile keeping in touch, as far as possible,
with such companies as may be formed for the ex-
ploitation of the West Indian and. South Pacific pos-
sessions.

FORETHOUGHT IN THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.

In our admiration of the dashing exploits of che navy
on the high seas we are liable to lose sight of the excel-
lent work that was done during the war by those offi-
cials and assistants whose duties were none the less
valuable, arduous, or efficiently performed, because
they were carried out at a desk or over a draughting-
board. In no branch of the naval service was more
faithful work done, or harder work, than in the Bureau
of Construction, which had charge of the overhauling
of the ships of the regular navy and the conversion of
the auxiliary vessels from merchantmen and yachts to
cruisers and dispatch and patrol boats, or in the Bu-
reau of Ordnance, which had to see that hundreds of
vessels carrying guns of various sizes, and scattered
over the waters of two hemispheres, were kept fully
supplied with ammunition.

There has recently come to our knowledge a striking
instance of the forethought and forehandedness dis-
played in keeping supplies well up to the front during
the operations in Cuban waters, which is worthy of
special mention. During the operations off Santiago,
certain parts of the mechanism of a turret gun on one
of our battleships showed signs of failure, and a dis-
patch was sent to Washington reporting the circum-
stance and asking that duplicate parts be sent. Allow-
ing for the tims necessary for securing or making these
parts and shipping them to Santiago, the captain of
the ship expected to receive them in about thirty days.
As a matter of fact, they were received in nine days
after the requisition was made. This expedition was
due to the fact that the ordnance officer at New York
had anticipated such occurrences by shipping to Key
West and keeping in store a reserve of such parts of
our guns as were most liable to failure ; and six days
after the failure occurred, word reached the battleship
that the duplicate parts had left Key West.

In respect of the supply of ammunition (a most
vital consideration in these days of rapid-fire guns), it
is greatly to the credit of the department that the
ships, including those under Admiral Dewey, in the
far East, were always fully supplied, while the vessels
of Sampson's squadron came back to New York with
their magazines completely filled.

DANGERS ATTENDING SO-CALLED FOOD
PRESERVATIVES,

Of late have sprung into existence a number of
preparations, claiming to be safe and efficient food
preservatives. They have been hawked from house
to house, especially in rural districts, and on the
strength of representations made by agents have
found employment domestically in the canning of
fruits and vegetables, and preservation of milk and
milk products ; fortunately, however, the representa-
tions made as to their efficiency in the preparing of
meats have proved delusive, and thus in uifiny in-
stances led to their general abandonment as regards
other domestic products. How far they have been, or
are now, employed by factories engaged in wholesale
production and marketing tinned products is a matter
solely of conjecture, yet there are good reasons for sur-
mising they are generally ignored, except, perhaps, in
the preserving of the poorer and cheaper grades.

The least objectionable of these so-called preserva-
tives owe what little virtue they may be possessed of
either to salicylic or boracic acid, sodium salicylate
or sodium biborate (borax) ; it is said that fluoric acid
is sometimes employed, but no data or definite evi-
dence is obtainable regarding such use of this agent.

As regards salicylic acid and salicylates, the dangers
attending their employment have been thoroughly
exploited in the past ; further, the changes induced in
the presence of fruit acids, whereby abnormal colors
are developed, are in the majority of instances in-
hibitory. Boracic acid and borax, however, are in
general use in some foreign countries for the preserva-
tion of products that are to be exported, but are for-
bidden by law as regards those intended for home con-
sumption. These drugs, too, are popularly believed to
be " harmless," which if true would simply mean they
are inert, and of little or no utility. They are above all
cheap and can be obtained anywhere.

Within a few months, several eases of severe and
dangerous poisoning, as the result of the employment
of boracic acid and borax, have been chronicled in the
medical press, both of America and abroad. In one
instance five of a family numbering seven souls all told
were seized with severe arid excruciating colic accom-
panied by nausea -nd vomiting, that prostrated the
unfortunates for three and four days ; the trouble was
brought directly home to the milk employed as a bev-
erage, and to which had been added a preservative pow-
der consisting of almost pure boracic acid. Two mem-
bers of the family escaped because the milk used by
them was only what was required for a cup of tea. The
same milk, fed to half a dozen fowls, killed all but one,
and this was rendered so ill that it was dispatched. In
another family, numbering nine individuals, six par-
took of milk which had been "kept sweet" by the
aid of borax, amd all were thereby made seriously ill.
Several cases of dangerous— and one of fatal— poison-

ing of infants and children by borax, fed in milk, are
on record. Probably many more have escaped notice,
the malady being ascribed to " cholera infantum,"
"summer complaint," colic, etc.

That accidents are not more frequent from the care-
less and ignorant use of these drugs, aside from the
reason just mentioned, is due to causes : First, the
distress occasioned thereby closely resembles that
which is apt to follow upon indiscretions of diet and
improper exposure. Second, many adults are but
slightly susceptible to the malign influence of the
drugs when they are oniy taken into the stomach
casually and occasionally in moderate and unrepeated
doses. As regards milk, it is possible, as has been
suggested, that the drugs induce certain chemical
changes therein, producing a new toxic agent, or en-
hancing or intensifying the untoward effects of the-
boracic acid or its sodium salt ; but this has never re-
ceived careful investigation and study.

Borax and boracic acid have been employed in a
variety of diseases, both as internal and topical medi-
caments, and of late years — the former especially — have
been exploited as remedies for epilepsy, though now
practically abandoned because of the unfortunate re-
sults that follow in their train.

A single large dose, as already intimated, induces de-
rangements in the digestive apparatus that simulate
colic and the results accruing to indiscretion in the use
of foods ; besides, the action is very much like that
provoked by toxic doses of lead. When taken in di-
vided doses, and persisted in for some time, a burning,
colicky pain in the " pit " of the stomach is experienced,
followed by intense nausea and vomiting ; the mouth
and throat are dry, and there is a remarkable dryness
of the hair and skin, the former falling, the latter de-
veloping skin diseases resembling eczema, salt rheum,
etc. Most unfortunate of all is a tendency on the
part of both drugs to develop and foster kidney disease,
or when such is already existent in simple and acute
form, to transform it into one of chronic, malignant,
and fatal character.

With this knowledge, it is evident too much circum-
spection cannot be employed as regards the use of- so-
called food preservatives, and that as a rule such shou Id
be regarded with the utmost suspicion, particularly
if their exact contents or composition is unknown.

♦ 1 » » ♦

OBSTACLES TO SOUTH AMERICAN TRADE.

In the Scientific American for June 4, 1898, we
published extracts from a letter from a correspondent
in Chile who complains of the fact that while it is pos-
sible to send small sums by postal money orders from
Chilean post offices to most of the countries of Europe,
these facilities do not exist as far as the United States
is concerned, and if it is desired to remit small sums to
the United States, it is necessary either to buy drafts
on England or New York. We are informed by the Post-
master-General of this country that the fault does not
rest with the United States, for as far back as Febru-
ary 13, 1890, Postmaster-G-eneral Wanamakerand Senor
Vasas, the Minister from Chile, signed a convention for
the exchange of money orders with their respective coun-
tries ; but, unfortunately, such convention required
the approval of the legislative body of Chile, and our
government has been wholly unable to ascertain what
disposition has been made of it. It is assumed, how-
ever, that on account of local changes of government,
etc., the matter was dropped. Subsequently, on Octo-
ber 6, 1896, the Director of the Posts of Chile addressed
the Department upon this subject, requesting steps be
taken to reopen the matter, and on November 28 the
draft of a proposed convention was sent to him. No
acknowledgment of its receipt was made, however,
and on March, 1897, his attention was called to the de-
lay, with a request for a response; but no reply has been
received up to the present time, which all goes to show
our Post Office authorities are fully alive to the import-
ance of being able to remit small sums to and from
foreign countries at a minimum of expense. Our gov-
ernment is also making every effort to provide im-
proved postal facilities between this country and the
South American Republics, and it is very certain it is
no fault of our very efficient Post Office authorities that
such conventions are not now in force. Our correspond-
ent also referred to the lack of a parcels post agree-
ment. There is more difficulty connected with this
subject than with Post Office money orders, and when
these difficulties have been overcome, there should be
no delay in concluding a parcels post convention be-
tween the United States and Chile.

In a work on the algal flora of the Hamburg water-
works, Herr O. Strohmeyer states that the green algse
— Cladophora, Spirogyra, Enteromorpha, Stichococcus,
etc. — have a very powerful effect in purifying water
by the destruction of bacteria through the agency of
the oxygen which they exhale. Those algse, on the
other hand, which are inclosed in a mucilaginous
sheath, especially diatoms, have a very prejudicial
effect on drinking water, by stopping the filters through
which it passes.

© 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

September 24, 1898.]

9 txtnWVu ^mtxitm.

195

THE LAKE EBIE AND OHIO BIVEB SHIP
CANAL.

BY WILLIAM GILBERT IRWIN.

The present is an age of waterway development, and
while the move to cheapen and facilitate internal com-
munications is general, it is as marked in no other sec-
tion as in the Ohio Valley. But few sections of our
country are so eminently adapted to the construction
of artificial waterways, hence this unusual activity
in this particular region. The question of internal
water communication is no new one to the people of
the Ohio Valley, for as early as 1770 no less a personage
than George Washington visited this section and exam-
ined the country with a view to the establishment of
communications between some of the streams. Dur-
ing the years intervening between 1820 and 1850 the
country between the Ohio and Lake Erie was permeat-
ed by a network of- canals, and in those days of the
towpath Pittsburg and other towns in this section saw
busy days.

But the advances of latter .day civilization have
wrought many changes. The great question now occu-
pying the attention of the people of the Ohio Valley
and those of other sections of our country is the con-
struction of canals whereon great freighters and large
passenger boats may speed on their great mission
of disseminating the manifold products of commercial
activity. Nowhere else have capital and labor already
wrought such mighty wonders as here in the Ohio
Valley. From a commercial standpoint Pittsburg
really controls the Ohio Valley. Within her borders
and at her doors this great manufacturing city has
storehouses of treasures such as are rarely met with
on the face of Mother Earth. The real source of the
greatness of Pittsburg lies in her vast fuel supply, and
as a result she has grown to prominence in varied
fields of i ndustry.

Through the excellence of her natural waterways
Pittsburg has thus been able to maintain with com-
parative ease her relative foremost position in the var-
ied manufacturing fields in which she is engaged.
While Pittsburg is, indeed, a city of many industries, it
is in the iron and steel manufacturing industry that
she has attained pre-eminence. From the great iron
ranges of Minnesota and Michigan come the raw ores
which enable Pittsburg to retain her censorship on this
vast industry. The cost of transporting hither these
ores has long been a perplexing one to the Pittsburg
manufacturers. The expense of a long water voyage
from Duluth to Ashtabula, together with the docking
and added to this the cost of transporting the ores
from the docks by rail to Pittsburg, is at the present
day one of the most troublesome obstacles with which
the Pittsburg manufacturers have to contend.

From carefully compiled statistics, it is found that
the approximate through traffic of the railroad lines
traversing the country between Pittsburg and Cleve-
land, through which the new canal is to pass, con-
sists annually of 7,000,000 tons of iron ore, 7,000,000
tons of coal, 2,000,000 tons of coke, 1,000,000 tons of
heavy manufactured products, and 1,500,000 tons of
lumber and general merchandise. This gives a grand
total of 18,500,000 tons, and from this we can safely
base an estimate on 13,000,000 tons as the probable an-
nual tonnage over the cheaper water route immedi-
ately after its completion. The present cost of ore
from Lake Superior to Pittsburg is $1 95 per ton, of
which 80 cents is for the lake shipment of 761 miles
and $1.15 for the railroad shipment of 128 miles. The
rate per ton on the old canal which connected Lake
Erie with Pittsburg over the same route which the
ship canal will traverse was 13 cents, and added to this
were lockage charges of 38 cents per ton. Were the
old rates to be revived on the new canal a saving of 77
cents per ton on iron ore would be made. In the same
manner the tariff on coal may be reduced from the
present rate of $1.05 to 33 cents, a saving of 72 cents
per ton. Thus Pittsburg coal can be delivered at
Chicago for $1.67 per ton, at Duluth for $1.50, at
New York for $1.75, and at Montreal for $1.60, at cor-
responding reductions for all points reached by the
lake connections.

Let us apply these economies to the traffic of the
section in question as it exists to-day. Omitting, too,
the inevitable increase of traffic resulting from the
radical reduction of rates, we still have an annual sav-
ing of $4,496,082 on iron ores shipped into the Pitts-
burg district and also a saving of $4,868,561 on the re-
turn cargoes of coal, and of $1,414,044 on those of coke,
or a total reduction in the cost of iron ore, coal, and
coke of $10,778,687. The resultant economy from the
construction of the canal in the six great lake ports
would be $11,852,876 for coal. The canal district would
save $4,496,082 for iron ore and the lake district $1,414,-
044 for coke. Thus the annual economy resulting from
the construction of this commercial highway would be
more than one-half the estimated costof the work were
we to take into consideration but these three leading
commercial products.

The above figures are specific ones. To a great ex-
tent the whole shipping interests of the Great Lakes,
and those of the Ohio and tributary streams, would
be benefited by the opening of this internal water-

way. From the latest obtainable official figures, the
Great Lakes are credited with an annual tonnage of
53,424,482 tons, the Ohio River with 15,600,439 tons,
and the Monongahela with 4,275,504 tons. To this we
can add 953,406 tons credited to the Allegheny River.
This gives the canal direct connections with water-
ways which carry 74,253,881 tons of commercial pro-
ducts annually. The vastness of these figures might
well arouse one's skepticism. While it is not to be in-
ferred that the traffic of the canal will approach any-
thing near these figures they go to show the marvelous
extent of the water communications which the canal
will establish. The length of these commercial high-
ways is many thousand miles.

To the traffic of these waterways add the railway
traffic of the sections in question. The traffic of
those roads centering in Pittsburg is not excelled
elsewhere in the country. In spite of the fact that
Pittsburg is eminently adapted to water traffic, and
that the city has fine water communications, yet
its railway traffic has grown to proportions most mar-
velous. In 1895, the roads of the Pittsburg district
hauled 1,989,236 cars of freight with a tonnage of 39,-
784,730 tons. Add to this the tonnage of the roads
centering in the lake region at the northern terminus
of the canal, and you will have some idea of the rail-
way traffic now engaged in here in this region. Add to
this the water traffc as given above and you will have
some idea of the universal import the construction of
this canal bears to this country and to the world.

The vast commercial traffic of the region to be bene-
fited by this internal improvement speaks most elo-
quently of the industrial development attained here
in the Ohio Valley and in the lake sections to be af-
fected by the canal. Another point which must not be
lost sight of is the extent of population of the region in
question. Taking the great cities to be connected by
this ship canal and giving each a radius of sixty miles,
which is approximately the district which centers in
such a city, we have a population as follows : Pitts-
burg, 1,608,964; Chicago, 1,565,360; Cincinnati, 1,168,-
308; St. Louis, 967,578; Buffalo, 917,028; Cleveland,
800,181; Detroit, 662,192; St. Paul, 644,309 ; Milwaukee,
581,713. These nine commercial centers, which will be
connected through the Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship
Canal, have a combined population of 8,915,633. But
all these figures cannot fully convey to the mind the
import of this new canal.

It is but fitting that the typical city of Pittsburg
should take the initiative step toward the construction
of this internal waterway. After having been agitated
for some years, the work was finally taken up by the
Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce in 1894, and through
funds raised by subscription a preliminary survey has
already been made. The canal has also been chartered
and its eonstruction is now assured. But private in-
stead of public capital will accomplish this boon to in-
ternal commerce.

The route to be traversed by the canal lies through
western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. According
to the most practicable proposed route, the length
of the canal will be 12216 miles from Pittsburg
to Ashtabula. This route is as follows : From the
Davis Island Dam in Pittsburg Harbor to the slack-
water of the Beaver River, 23 26 miles ; thence up the
Beaver and Mahoning Rivers by a slackwater system
of pools and dams 46 26 miles to Niles ;. thence by canal
8"74 miles to plateau 900 feet above the tide and 200.08
feet above the Pittsburg Harbor ; thence 31'25 miles
across the summit ; thence descending in a distance
of 12'55 miles to the level of the lake, 57286 feet above
tide.

The 23"26 miles of the canal which traverses the Ohio
River has been improved by the United States govern-
ment, which leaves but 98"9 miles to be constructed.
It must be remembered that it is proposed to carry
on this canal lake freighters of 2,000 tons or of even
a greater capacity. This will necessitate a 15 or 20 foot
channel. The thirty-three locks of the canal will have
a length of 270 feet and a width of 45, and a 15 or 20
foot channel.

The estimated cost of this internal improvement is,
in round numbers, $33,000,000. Its estimated revenue
from tolls on coal, coke, and iron is $3,169,049 per
annum, and deducting from this the cost of main-
tenance and operation, there still remains a net annual
revenue of nearly $3,000,000. The canal will furnish
cheaper ores and cheaper foods to the great manufac-
turing centers. To the Great Lakes it will furnish
cheaper fuel, and as a cheaper avenue of commercial
communications between the Great Lakes and the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers the canal will prove to
be of the highest economic value.

The rapid rise of the land about Hudson Bay is said
to be the most remarkable gradual upheaval of an ex-
tensive region ever known. Driftwood-covered beaches
are now 20 to 60 or 70 feet above the water, new islands
have appeared, and many channels and all the old
harbors have become too shallow for ships. At the
present fate, the shallow bay will disappear in a few
centuries, adding a vast area of dry land or salt marsh
to British territory in America.

DB. JOHN HOPKINSON.

The scientific world has been greatly shocked by
the tragic death of Dr. John Hopkinson. A few days
ago, accompanied by his son and daughter, he essayed
the ascent of the Dent de Veisivi. The party started
early from Arolla, and as Dr. Hopkinson was an expert
mountaineer and as the ascent is not considered diffi-
cult, no guide was taken. When the party failed to
return, search parties were organized and at daybreak
the bodies of the distinguished electrician and his
children were discovered still roped together on a
moraine at the foot of the cliffs. At points on the as-
cent the footing is difficult, and it is surmised that one
of the party must have slipped and all four fallen
from rock to rock a distance of several hundred feet.
Electrical engineering suffers a severe loss in the
death of this brilliant English electrician. He com-
bined, in a rare degree, the qualities of the mathe-
matician with the skill and resources of the engineer.
There is scarcely a branch of electrical work that
does not owe something to him, and his work was
theoretical as well as practical. His greatest inven-
tion was an improvement on the Edison dynamo,
which is known as the Edison-Hopkinson machine.
In 1882 he filed his famous three-wire patent, which
he afterward sold to the Westinghouse Company for
nearly $100,000.

MOUNT YILLIMANI ASCENDED.

Sir William Martin Conway, the explorer, cables
from La Paz, Bolivia, that he has successfully ascended
Mount Yllimani, or Ulimani, one of the loftiest moun-
tains of the Bolivian Andes, about twenty-five miles
east of La Paz. Sir William says that the ascent of
22,500 feet occupied five days. On the fourth day the
Indian porters employed to carry the expedition's bag-
gage ran away. The party suffered great weakness
during the last hour they were on the summit, but
none of them were injured. Their experience was like
that of Mr. Fitzgerald, who ascended Aconcagua.

Sir William was accompanied by the guides who as-
cended Mount St. Elias, in Alaska, with the Duke of
Abruzzi, in 1897.

Mount Yllimani is a serrated ridge with four princi-
pal peaks. The snow part of the East Cordillera be-
gins with the gigantic mass of Mount Yllimani, and
proceeds in a continuous line of snow-clad peaks to the
group of Vilcanota, where it unites with the Cordillera
of the coast. On its north side it has glaciers above
the height of 16,350 feet. On it also is the Lake of
Yllimani, 15,950 feet above the sea.

Sir William Conway is the son of a clergyman, and
has traveled much in Europe, Asia, the Arctic regions,
and South America. In 1892 he explored the Hima-
laya Mountains, reaching an altitude of 23,000 feet. In
1894 he traversed the entire range of the Alps, and in
1896 and 1897 he explored the interior of the island of
Spitzbergen, and discovered that its central portion is
a vast icy plateau. He is the author of several books
on mountaineering, and is regarded as an authority
on the subject.

SOAP AS A DISINFECTANT.

The use of soaps containing a disinfectant of some
kind has become so general that observations on the
practical value of such combinations cannot fail to be
of interest. Dr. Reithoffer has recently published the
results of some experiments carried out by him with
various kinds of soap, having for object to determine
their value as microbicides. He used the ordinary
mottled soap, white almond soap perfumed with ni-
trobenzine, and hard potash soap. He found that
these soaps were very inimical to the cholera microbe,
a 1 per cent solution killing them in a short space of
time, while a 5 per cent solution of the potash soap
killed them in five minutes. We are, therefore, at
liberty to infer that, as in washing the hands the
strength of the soap solution is never less than 5 and
may go as high as 45 per cent, this method of disinfect-
ing the hands, as well as the clothes, etc., is fairly
trustworthy. Much stronger solutions are required,
however, to destroy the bacilli of typhoid, the coli-
bacillus, etc., not less than 10 per cent being sufficient.
None of the soaps experimented with appeared to
have any effect on the pyogenic microbe. The prac-
tical result of these investigations is that it is always
preferable to use soap and water first of all, rinsing
the hands in the disinfectant solution afterward.
This is an important point which merits to be gen-
erally made known. — Medical Press.

— . ,m i » i mi .

Congress on Public Art In Delglum.

The first International Congress on Public Art will
meet at Brussels, September 24-28, 1898. The Belgian
Minister says that he is instructed by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs in Belgium to invite the government
of the United States to send delegates to this con-
gress. Many eminent persons have consented to act
as presidents and honorary members. According to
the circular, the programme will have three divisions :
public art from the standpoint of law and regulations,
from the social standpoint, and from the technical
standpoint.

©1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

196

Sf tuntiiu %mmtm*

ISeptember 24, 1898.

A NEW TIDE HOTOB.

The main difficulty with tide motors is that at the
ebb and the flow of the tide there are two points at
which the motor is forced to stop. This defect in tide
motors is obviated in the invention of Mr. Silas P.
Tomkins, of Tilly Foster, N. Y., which is adapted to
give a continuous motion to the shaft irrespective of
the period when the motor is inactive. The power for
the purpose of imparting motion to the shaft during
the period of rest is practically stored up by the motor
during the period of action of the tide. A casing of

^xVjo.'V,

TOMKINS' TIDE HOTOB.

any approved construction is erected over the tidal
flow, and is adapted to receive a slidable cage which
travels in the casing and is actuated by a float which
rises and falls with the tide. At the top of the casing
are three chain wheels, the center one being secured to
a shaft from which the power is taken off. There are
two chain wheels at the bottom. This arrangement is
duplicated on both sides, so that there are ten chain
wheels in all. Over these chain wheels pass chains
which are engaged by pawls secured to the cage.
The pawls are given an inclination in opposite direc-
tions, so that uniform motion in one direction is given
to the shaft whether the cage ascends or descends.
There are bars fixed across the casing which secure
pawls which engage shorter chains which pass around
two wheels secured to the upper and lower parts of the
cage. To the shaft of the upper cage wheel is secured
a pinion which engages a rack which is adapted to
move a weight which issecured toit. Theraek runs in
a groove in a frame which is secured to the casing in
such a manner that it slides laterally, so as to bring the
rack into communication with the pinion, which is ac-
complished by a pin which is an integral part of the
movable cage. It will be seen by the nature of th£
channel in which the pin runs that, at the top and bot-
tom of the stroke, the pin forces the rack out of engage-
ment with the pinion. At the up stroke the pawls en-
gage the chain, causing the pinion to revolve and, con-
sequently, the rack to move upward, carrying the
weight with it until it reaches the highest position
shown in our Fig. 2. There is then an interval of
time before the tide ebbs. The rack has been forced
out of engagement and the pawl on the weight catches
the chain and by
force of gravity
turns the shaft
through the me-
dium of the chain
and chain wheels.

When the cage

begins to descend,

the pinion again

meshes with the

rack, the pinion

being turned by

the chains which

are caught by the

pawls on the fixed

bar. This motion

of the pinion

causes the weight

to remain station-
ary while the cage

is descending, the

condition being

shown in our Fig.

1. When the cage

reaches its lowest

point, the rack is

disengaged, the

weight drops

down the same

distance as before,

keeping up a con-

tinuous motion, and when the cage begins to ascend, may be done upon the dock that in any other floating
the pin and rack engage and the weight is raised to its structure would necessitate a visit to a drydock.

In docking a ship, the dock is sunk until the upper
floor of the pontoons is well below the level of the
ship's bottom. The ship is then floated in between the
walls and secured in the desired position. The pumps
are then started, and as the buoyancy of the pontoons
increases, they lift the vessel steadily Out of the
water.

The advantages of this form of dock are that its first
cost is far less than that of a first-class graving dock ;
it may be moved to any desired position when the
depth of water is sufficient for its operation ; it may be
built and towed many thousand miles, as in the case of
the Havana dock, to its destination, and as compared
with the timber docks, it is more reliable and durable.

DBAUGHT ATTACHMENT FOB LOCOMOTIVES.

Our engraving represents a new draught device for
locomotive engines invented by Mr. Michael Kelly, of
Blooinington, 111. In this arrangement funnels are
mounted on the forward end of the locomotive and
also at the rear of the driving wheels, extending outside
the same so that the air will have free access to them.
The funnels open forward and are each connected with
an air pipe which conducts the air into the ash pan,
where they are connected with a T. From this T a
vertical pipe extends upward and is surmounted by a

highest position and the operation is repeated.

• » m > »

THE LABOEST FLOATING DOCK IN THE WOBLD.
The great floating dock recently constructed for the
Vulcan Company, Stettin, Germany, by Messrs. Swan
& Hunter, of Wallsend, Newcastle-on-Tyne, surpasses
in capacity the floating dock built by the same firm
for the Spanish government and now in operation at
Havana. We illustrated the Havana dock in our is-
sue of October 6, 1897, and the remarkable achievement
of towing it successfully across the Atlantic Ocean is
fresh in the public mind.

The present dock, like its predecessor, was built
from the designs of Messrs. Clark & Standfield, of
Westminster, the well known dock engineers. It has
been constructed "with special reference to the length-
ening and re engining of two of the Atlantic liners
of the North German Lloyd Company.

The principal dimensions are : Length over all, 510
feet; extreme breadth, 110 feet 9 inches; height from
bottom of pontoon to top of walls, 43 feet 7 inches.
The internal width is sufficient to allow vessels up to
82 feet beam to be docked, and the depth over the keel
blocks is 24 feet. The maximum lifting power is about
12,000 tons.

The dock is what is known as the self -docking type,
that is to say, access to all the external surfaces is pos-
sible for painting or repairs. Longitudinally it con-
sists of two side walls, between which are connected
three pontoons, the center one being 240 feet long,and
the two end pontoons 135 feet. The pumping and con-
trolling machinery consists of eight horizontal centri-
fugal circulating pumps, placed four in each wall of
the dock. These pumps have large vertical shafts,
geared by means of bevel wheels and horizontal shafts
to two sets of compound engines of 125 horse power
each, which are placed on a deck near the top of the
walls. There are four engines in all, and each of them
drives two 15-inch centrifugal pumps, the whole ma-
chinery being capable of lifting a ship of about 11,000
tons displacement clear of the water in about two and
a half hours. The dock is divided into 38 watertight
compartments, each emptied or filled by separate
valves. Each engine is supplied by a large, horizontal
multitubular marine boiler which is placed in the
walls in close proximity to it.

The main line of suction pipes is laid at the bottom
of the pontoon walls, and runs the entire length of the
same. Branches are carried through the walls into the
pontoon itself, connection being made by means of
flexible joints. The valves for regulating the empty-
ing and filling of the dock, of which there is of course
a great number, due to the subdivision of the pontoon,
are all manipulated by means of rods and levers from
central houses placed one on each wall. From this po-
sition also the engines for driving the pumps can be
started or stopped at the will of the engineer in charge.
The whole of the controlling gear is so arranged that
two men, one on each wall, can control the pumping
gear of the entire structure.

We have referred to the Stettin dock as being a self-
docking structure. It is so named because of the
facility with which all parts of the structure can be
got at, if desired, for painting, etc. Each pontoon can
in turn be detached, lifted, and hung up on the side
walls, and while it is in this position any part of it
may be examined and repairs, etc., carried out. The
underneath portion of the walls, moreover, may be ex- gine, in running 1,263 freight miles, used 68 tons of coal
posed by careening the structure; m fact, any work or SItVh miles per ton. The total average was 28 T 9 9 B

miles per ton for
the 3,073 miles
run. The engines
were both in good
order. There was
also less back
pressure with the
new draught me-
chanism and it
admitted of work-
ing more steam on
a hard pull.

•-*-•

It is stated that
Al berto Ricci, of
Turin, has dis-
covered that so-
lution of hydro-
gen dioxide rap-
idly disintegrates
hardened masses
of cerumen in the
ear. A s 111 a 1 1
quantity of t lie
liquid is poured
in, allowed to
remain a few mo-
ments, and the
passage is then
syringed with
water.

DBAUGHT ATTACHMENT FOB LOCOMOTIVES.

series of pipes extending radially which are perforated
upon their upper surface so as to discharge the air
beneath the grate. The forward section of the air sup-
ply pipe may be closed by a valve or damper which
may be closed when desired. When this device is in
use, the dampers of the ash pan are preferably closed
and the flow of air through them prevented, but, if
desired, the dampers may be opened, so as to admit an
additional quantity of air. When the locomotive is run-
ning, the air is forced through the funnels and directed
into the firebox in a strong stream, causing a rapid
combustion of fuel upon the grate. The device has
been tested on the Chicago and Alton Railroad by Mr.
H. Monkhouse, superintendent of machinery. Engine
No. 86, in running 5,800 passenger miles, used 233 tons
of coal, or 25 I 1 S 5 5 miles per ton, while engine No. 170, fit-
ted with Mr. Kelly's device, ran 1.810 passenger miles
with 38 tons of coal or 47^fo miles per ton. The same en-

STETTIN FLOATING DBTDOCK, CABBTING THE NOBTH GEBMAN LLOTD STEAMSHIP "SFBEE."

Dimensions of Dock: Length, 510 feet; extreme breadth, 110 feet 9 inches; height, 43 feet 7 inches. Lifting power, 13,000 tons.

) 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

SEPTEMBER 24, 1898.J

mutiiu %mttmu.

197

COLLAPSE OF THE WILSON LINE PIEE SHED AT
NEW YOEK.
Brief reference was made hi our last issue to the
remarkable wreck of a large pier shed which is in
course of erection for the Wilson Line of steamships in
this city. The shed is one of a set of five that are
being con-
structed on the
New York side
of the Hudson
River, a little
to the north of
the present
C h rist opher
Street ferry.
Two of these
are for the
White Star
Line, two are
for the Cunard
Line, and the
fifth for the
Wilson Line of
s teams hips.
One of the
sheds for the
White Star
Line has been
completed, and
at the time
of the accident
the framework
for the Wilson
shed and for
one of the
Cunard sheds
was partially
erected but not
inclosed. Both
structures were

advanced to about the stage shown in the accompany-
ing illustration of the Cunard pier and building.

The storm which wrecked the Wilson Line building
was in one respect the most severe on record, the ve-
locity of the wind reaching a maximum of 72 miles an
hour, which lasted for fully 5 minutes.
This has been exceeded in the history
of the city, but the maximum intensity
of the storms has never lasted for so
long a period. A remarkable feature
about the storm was the total absence
of any premonitory warning further
than a gathering of heavy clouds in
the southwest. The full strength of
the blast struck the building diagon-
ally, the direction of the pier being
approximately east and west, and the
whole of the ironwork, including four-
teen bents, with their heavy transverse
floor girders and roof trusses, fell over
to the east, each oent pivoting on its
foundation plate and falling upon
the neighboring bent to the east.

The cause of the disaster is to be
found in the extraordinary force of the
wind, coupled with the small amount
of longitudinal wind-bracing throughout the structure.
This insufficiency (we had almost said entire absence)
of longitudinal wind-bracing is not peculiar to this
pier shed, which is a structure of the first class, is of the
standard type of construction used in the large pier
sheds of this
port, and is
being built by
the firm which
has put up all
the notable
b 11 i 1 d i ngs of
the kind erect-
ed in New
York during
the past few
years. We
venture to say
that the same
absence of
Ion gi tudinal
bracing will be
found to char-
acterize in
greater or less
degree many of
the pier sheds,
w a r e h o u s es,
and train sheds
throughoutthe
country.

By the cour-
tesy of Chief
Engineer J. A.
Beusel, of the
Dock Board,
and W. S.

White, the resident engineer in charge of the work,
we were enabled to inspect the work and take the
accompanying photographs of the wreck. The plans
of the building were prepared by the engineers of the
Wilson Line and were passed by the Dock Board, the
matter of detailed inspection during erection being

CUNAED PIEE SHED IN COURSE OF EEECTION.

(This building, adjoining the Wilson Line Shed, survived the storm.)

arranged between the Wilson Line and the contractors.
The building was erected upon a pile pier, and, when
completed, will cover an area 120 feet wide by about
730 feet long.

The structure was two stories in height, the height

DETAIL VIEW SHOWING FBACTTTEE OF ONE OF THE POSTS IN PIEE SHED

from the first or pier floor to the second floor being
25 feet and the height from the second floor to the
under side of the roof trusses being 16)^ feet. The
total height from the pier to the roof of the lantern
was 63 feet. The walls consisted of built-up columns.

WRECK OF A STEAMSHIP FIEB SHED AT NEW YOEK CITY.

spaced with an average distance of 22J^ feet between
centers, and tied together with two lines of horizon-
tal struts of rectangular section, one at the second
floor level and the second line at the top of the
posts.
The second floor was carried on transverse plate

girders 4
feet deep, one
at each bent,
the girders be-
ing riveted to
the posts and
the connection
being stiffened
by plate knee
braces. The
roof, which
was of 120 feet
span, was car-
ried on lattice
trusses which
were support-
ed at each end
upon and riv-
eted to the
posts, open
lattice knee
braces being
riveted at the
connection to
both trusses
and posts. At
the center of
each main
truss was the
framing of the
lantern, con-
sisting of two
posts and a
smaller lattice
truss of 35 feet span, raised 10 feet above the hips of
the maiu roof trusses.

The columns were tied together longitudinally by
two lines of box struts extending between the bents.
The upper line, 10 inches in depth, was riveted to
the columns just below the roof
trusses, and the lower line, 12 inches
in depth, was riveted to the columns
at the level of the top of the plate
girders that carried the second floor.
The roof trusses were also tied to-
gether by two lines of longitudinal
lattice trusses located at the hips of
the trusses, that is to say, in the plane
of the side walls of the lantern.

Now, in respect of lateral wind brac-
ing, the structure was well provided,
the knees uniting the floor girders and
the roof trusses to the columns and the
riveting of these girders to the columns
giving the necessary stability ; but in
respect of lateral bracing, especially
during erection, when the wind was
able to take hold of every individual
truss and floor girder, the whole struc-
ture was altogether deficient. The only
resistance presented by the metallic structure itself
to the overturning of the fourteen bents that had
been erected was the holding power of the rivets
and angles by which the longitudinal struts were
riveted to the columns. The nature of the attach-
ment of the
bases of the col-
umns to the
pier was such
that they pre-
sented very lit-
tle resistance to
overturning. It
consisted of
four 1-inch lag-
screws, which
passed through
holes in the
corners of the
base plate, and
fastened it to
the flooring of
the pier. It is
true that some
attempt to
stiffen the
structure had
been made by
i ntrod ucing
temporary 6 by
6-inch timber
struts between
the bents, the
struts bedding
against chocks
of wood spiked
to the floor and

) 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

198

Sf tuntxiu %mtum.

[September 24, 1898.

against the lattice work of the columns, and the
westernmost bent was secured to the pier by two 1-inch
wire rope guys ; but, when the storm struck the build-
ing, the ropes broke and the chocks were either sheared
off or the struts collapsed by buckling.

When a building of this kind has been sheathed, the
longitudinal overturning moment is that due to the
pressure on the end of the building, and it is resisted by
every longitudinal riveted connection throughout the
length of the structure. But, should a storm strike it
before the sheathing is put on, the total overturning
moment is that due to the action of the wind on the
total area of every post, girder, and truss in the naked
structure. The overturning moment in this case is far
greater than it is on the completed building, and if
the storm be of unusual severity, the building is in
great danger of overturning and folding up, as in the
case of the structure in question.

A study of ,the photograph, showing the fracture of
one of the posts at its point of connection with the
longitudinal waling members, shows how great was
the wrenching effect at this point.

The fact that the Cunard Line shed did not. fall is
due either to the fact that it is only 60 feet wide, and
presented not much over one-half the area to the storm
that the fallen pier did. or that a gust of special vio-
lence struck the wrecked structure.

The accident, as a whole, emphasizes the necessity
for providing ample longitudinal bracing in buildings
of this character during erection, and, indeed, in all
skeleton structures, whether they be low train or pier
sheds or lofty office buildings.

Green Carnations.

Mr. S. W. Williams, of East Orange, N. J., having
seen a quotation from The Gardener's Chronicle, re-
garding the staining of carnations, undertook some ex-
periments to determine its correctness and kindly sends
The Druggist's Circular the following report :

"Acid wool green B will answer the purpose. If
the stalks of white carnations are allowed to stand for
a few hours in a solution of this dye, the color is
readily taken into the circulation, following the vein-
ingof the petals and producing a beautiful effect. Any
depth of color from the faintest tint to a brilliant
green may be obtained by varying the strength of the
solution. A comparatively strong solution usually
has the effect of giving a rich green border to the petals,
with a more delicate tracing of the veining toward
the center of the flower. Dilute solutions give a more
natural effect. Naphthol green B acts slowly, but
gives a very pretty tint.

" There are very likely many other green dyes which
will answer the purpose, and perhaps better ; but the
writer tried malachite green, direct green, and a num-
ber of others with negative results. An 'acid' yellow
worked with indigo carmine may be made to produce
colors ranging through apple to the more yellow greens,
while the same blue used in combination with the wool
green should give bluish greens.

" The Circular certainly did its part fully in se
curing the statement of an expert in this line. It is
easy to understand how his actual experiments were
misleading. Of the many dyes tried by the writer, but
about one in five was taken into the circulation of the
plant. One theory to account for this is that ' basic
dyes may be intercepted by tannins or other incom
patible principles in the stalk, whereas ' acid ' colors
may be allowed to pass on to the flower. As a number
of 'acid' dyes failed, however, to enter the circulation,
the writer would seek to offer no explanation without
further study. It is strange also that, of several
flowers of the same kind placed in the same solution,
some appropriated the color much better than others.
One theory for this is that a flower not fully opened
would naturally draw up the solution more readily
than another which had more completely matured.
The writer's experiments, however, have not proved
this to be necessarily so, nearly full blown flowers
seeming to act about as well as any.

" As to the comparative lasting qualities of flowers
thus treated, some seem even superior in this respect
to those not dyed.

" Crocein scarlet, in rather dilute solution, will
readily change a white Alaska or Harrison white into
a beautiful pine carnation, much resembling the
' daybreak,' the veining of the perianth being, how-
ever, more marked in the dyed samples. This dye will
pass four or five joints in the stem and color the flowers
pink within an hour, acting far more rapidly than
most of the other colors.

" Cyanole, extra, works satisfactorily where a blue
tint is desired.

" While this question is outside the domain of phar-
macy, to whom will the interested citizen more natur-
ally go for information on the subject than to the
pharmacist — the ' chemist to the people ' ? A bunch
of artificially colored natural flowers, on the druggist's
counter, will interest many persons and possibly result
in numerous calls for the particular dyes that work so
well. Anything of this kind that interests the public
leads people to ask questions and to want material
which will enable them to produce the same effects,

and should afford a good and legitimate means of ad-
vertising.

" An East Orange florist informed the writer that
about seven years ago a Long Island man launched
the green carnation on an unsuspecting public, and,
while others were charging a dollar per hundred for
carnations of natural color, this man was getting about
two hundred per cent advance for his dyed flowers.
When it was found how the thing was done the craze
died out; but as the same thing seems to have ap-
peared again on the scene, and, considering that a
metropolitan florist is not quite familiar with it, the
idea will doubtless excite considerable interest on the
part of the general public.

"We are told that, when Nature paints, she dips her
brush in iron, and it is said that iron in the water used
or naturally present in the soil changes the colorof one
of the white hydrangeas. Experiments with some of
the inorganic salts might bring out some interesting
points."

m i ■ i «» ■

A NEW TESTING VALVE.

We present herewith an engraving of a new valve
for testing sewer pipes, which is the invention of Gott-
lob E. Loeble and Frederick Katzenberger, 45 Grand
Street, New York city.

Referring to our sectional view, in which the valve is
shown applied to a hand hole, it will be seen that the
valve comprises an expansion ring made of rubber,
mounted on an expanding block in the form of a
frustum of a cone. The testing pipe forms the shank
of the expanding block. This pipe communicates with
the interior of the expanding block and extends up
through a tube, as seen in the illustration. A valve
controls the communication between this tube and the
outlet pipe, which extends downward + .o discharge
water through the hand hole into the outlet of the

Su-A«-jVJf>

LOEBLE AND KATZENBEBGEB'S TESTING VALVE.

trap. On the lower end of the tube is a hollow pres-
sure block engaging the upper side of the expanding
ring. On the upper end of the tube is a nut engaging
with a thread formed on the testing pipe and having a
series of holes to receive a handle. The device is held
in position by a clamp.

After placing the valve in the trap, by turning the
nut, the expanding block will be drawn up to force
the expanding ring to a tight connection with the wall
of the trap. By opening the valve the water test may
be made. It is evident that this testing valve is not
liable to break so readily as the inflated bags usually
employed lor stopping pipes.

Vesuvius In Active Eruption.

Mount Vesuvius promises a dangerous eruption. Lava
is flowing in torrents from seven new outlets in addi-
tion to the central crater. Prof. Tasconi, the director
of the observatory, at first said that he did not expect
any serious damage would be done. Later, however,
part of the roadway from the mountain leading to the
observatory and the lower station of the funicular
railroad was destroyed by a lava stream and the obser-
vatory is considered in danger. The stream along the
foot of Monte Somma burned the chestnut forests.
From a spectacular standpoint the eruption is finer
than any since 1872.

Negative Varnlsu.

Dissolve eight parts of borax and two parts of car-
bonate of soda in 160 parts of hot water, and dissolve
in this 32 parts of bleached shellac broken up small.
When this is dissolved, add one part of glycerine dis-
solved in 160 parts of water. If any deposit forms
after a few days, filter off.

This varnish can be run on the plate while it is wet,
hence the plate dries once for all. — Dun, in Photo.
News.

Science Notes.

The bureau of police and health officers of Pittsburg,
Pa., have placed conspicuously around that city printed
signs requesting all persons not to spit on the side-
walks or street crossings, says Municipal Engineering.
This effort is made in the interest of public health,
and if it does not have the desired effect, an ordinance
will probably be passed fixing a penalty for spitting
on the sidewalks.

" The first attempt at scientific forecasting of the
weather," says E. J. Prindle, in an article on "Weather
Forecasts" in Appleton's Popular Science Monthly,
July, " was the result of a storm which, during the
Crimean war, November 14, 1854, almost destroyed the
fleets of France and England. As a storm had raged
several days earlier in France, Vaillant, the French
Minister of War, directed that investigations be made
to see if the two storms were the same, and if the pro-
gress of the disturbances could have been foretold. It
was demonstrated that the two were in reality one
storm, and that its path could have been ascertained
and the fleet forewarned in ample time to reach
safety."

In a recent issue of The American Journal of Science
are given the results of tests of a large number of mag-
nets made of self -hardening steel, now in common use
for lathe tools. The object of these tests was to
search for a material for standard measuring magnets,
which would be as permanent as possible, and Lave
a small temperature and induction coefficient. The
experiments show that comparatively short seasoned
magnets made of this steel have decidedly smaller in-
duction coefficients than magnets of the same dimen-
sions made of tool steel ; the difference in the tempera-
ture coefficient is much less, but the advantage is still
on the side of those made of self-hardening steel ;
the temperature and induction coefficients of long mag-
nets of the two kinds of steel do not seem to be very
different.

Few photographers seem to be aware of the immense
force exerted by gelatine in its contraction. The thing
is, however, well known to collotypists, often to their
cost. If a collotype plate be over-dried, the power of
the gelatine, in its contraction, is so great that it tears
away the surface of the glass itself, breaking it up in
peculiar fern-like pattern. The surface of the collo-
type plate is always ground, and it is that which gives so
firm a hold to the gelatine that the glass is torn away.
It is a curious .fact in connection with the matter that
different characters of gelatine produce a different pat-
tern fracture. A brittle kind of gelatine produces a
different pattern from that yielded by a tough and
horny one. This property has been taken advantage
of, commercially, for many years past in the manufac-
ture of that kind of ornamental glass known as
"crystalline glass," so general for decorative purposes.
— British Journal of Photography.

The practice of Dr. Miculicz, professor of surgery at
Breslau, is to wear gloves while performing most of his
operations, and especially when engaged in laparotomy,
but if, however, the intervention is connected with re.
gions specially exposed to infection, he does not cover
his hands, holding that gloves under such- circum-
stances could only favor contamination, by helping to
convey noxious germs from diseased parts to those still
remaining healthy. Unlike some others, he makes no
use of India rubber gloves, as he finds them embar-
rassing, but employs the ordinary thread article,
which can be readily washed and sterilized under
steam. All the assistants and attendants have also to
wear gloves like the surgeon, but as thread gloves are,
of course, far from impermeable, the wearers are re-
quired, before putting them on, to disinfect their
hands by means of alcohol and corrosive sublimate.
As a rule, a single pair of gloves suffices for a short
operation.

An extended series of observations in La Piti6 Hos-
pital, Paris, has led to a practical determination as to
the alterations, their shape and volume, which occur
in the hearts of persons suffering from nervous affec-
tions, the results being thus briefly stated : In normal
subjects moderate exercise does not cause any percepti-
ble changes in the heart with regard to shape, volume,
or position ; in subjects whose nervous systems have
undergone deterioration in consequence of hysteria,
neurasthenia, or any reflex trouble having its point of
departure in a special part of the organism, the heart
grows hyperexcitable and changes in shape or position
the moment it is called upon to do some slight extra
work. This alteration may present itself in three
typical ways, as follows : The whole cardiac area may
be uniformly enlarged, or the increase may be partial
and irregular ; or the heart may become retracted and
diminished in volume ; finally, the organ may be dislo-
cated laterally, with or without changes of shape and
volume, the displacement being directed toward the
mesial line, or, more frequently, toward the axilla. It
is stated that in the prosecution of these researches use
was made of a modified form of Bianchi's phonendo-
scope, and careful tracings were also executed, showing
the contour of the heart region before and after exer-
cise.

©1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

September 24, 1898.]

SftitntUit %mttiau.

199

(Correspondence.

A Remarkable Rainbow.

To the Editor of the Scientific American :

I desire to call your attention to a most remarkable
rainbow that I. with several others, witnessed on the
evening of July 18, at about eight o'clock. We were
near the little town of Eatonville, about thirty miles
west of Mount Rainier, Washington, and in the timber.
For a short time I could dimiy discern five bows, or
principally bands of red and purple, under the primary,
making six in that group, and two of the secondary.
Not only was the number larger than I have ever be-
fore witnessed or heard of and the colors brighter,
but all of them were almost perfect semicircles, being
complete throughout. We had no instruments for
measuring, but a gradual decrease in width and bright-
ness, like the bands in " Newton's rings," was quite ap-
parent. H. C. Tillman. _
Puget Sound University, Tacoma, Wash., August

30, 1898.

m i m i »» •

Theory of tbe manner in wlilcli tbe Sounds ol
Flue Organ Pipes and all Classes of Reed Wind
musical Instruments are Produced.

To the Editor of the Scientific American:

It is, I believe, the general if not universal opinion
that all sounds are produced by vibrations which are
conveyed to the ear by the atmosphere. How those
vibrations are started and kept up has not been ex-
plained to me in a satisfactory manner.

Helmholtz, in his work, " Sensations of Tone," Part
1, Chapter 5, states that the stream of air in a flue organ
pipe is directed across the sound hole and against its
sharp edge, producing sounds which may be consider-
ed as a mixture of several inharmonic tones of nearly
the same pitch. When the air chamber of the pipe is
brought to bear upon these tones, its resonance strength-
ens such as correspond with the proper tones of that
chamber, and makes them predominate over the rest.

In Appendix 19, Part H, Chapter 6, of the same work,
a different theory is propounded by Mr. Herman Smith
and Herr H. Schneebeli. Smith claims that the stream
of air does not impinge against, the sharp edge of the
sound hole, that vibrations are produced by a form of
"aero-plastic reed," which is formed outside the pipe,
and bends partly within it, and that this reed acts
similarly to the reeds of other wind instruments in the
following manner: "The stream of air exhausts the
air back of I he reed, as shown in the atomizer drawing
up a stream of liquid, thus effecting a vacuum, alter-
nated by a pressure from the air rushing in, and caus-
ing a vibration of the reed."* This hardly seems
plausible when we consider that some notes of a wind
instrument require over 4,000 vibrations per second.
It seems impossible that in a body as elastic as air this
number of vacuums could be made and filled in a
second, and that the opening or closing of the lateral
holes could change the pitch of the sounds produced.

This theory of Smith's is the only one I have seen
that attempts to explain how such vibrations are caus-
ed, but this only applies to the flue pipes of an organ,
to the flageolet, or to the flute. Neither will it explain
how the wind causes the strings of an iEolian harp to
vibrate.

Doubtless you have often noticed that in the time of
a freshet, when a stream has overflowed its banks, some
twigs and bushes that are almost buried in the water
and in the current of the stream are in constant vibra-
tion. This vibration is not governed by the velocity of
the current as much as by the length and elasticity of
the vibrating portion, for different twigs exposed to
currents of the same velocity may vary in the rapidity
of their vibrations. Another peculiarity is that the
vibrations are not with and against the current, but
transversely across the current. I believe that the
same laws which produce vibration of a twig in a cur-
rent of water produce the vibration of the iEolian
string in a current of air.

The theory which I now advance is based upon the
supposition that a peculiarity that is known to exist in
any fluid in motion will be found in any other fluid.
The action I now refer to may easily be seen in a thick,
viscid liquid like tar or thick molasses. If you let a
thin stream of such a liquid fall on a fixed body, you
will at once see that the lowest portion of this stream
bends back and forth, in what I call a lapping manner,
some four or five times a second. I estimate that the
mobility of pure water is thirty times greater than that
of thick tar or molasses, that the vibrations would be
thirty times greater, or from 120 to 130 times per sec-
ond, and as the arc of vibration may be thirty times
less, such vibrations would not be visible to the unaid-
ed eye.

I'o return to the stream of tar, if you allow it to fall
on a piece of board, and at the same time move the
board, the lower part of the stream will ceu.se lapping
and string out to one side like a kite string. If you re-
duce the speed of the board to a certain velocity, the

lapping will commence, but the laps will be unequal,
the long legs will be in the same direction the board is
moved. In the case of the vibrating twig or jEolian
string it is only that portion of the current that is
about to impinge or has impinged against the twig
or string that is caused to lap and to push the twig or
string until its elasticity arrests and reverses its motion.
The moment the retrograde motion commences the long
laps change to the opposite side and assist the elasticity
to move the twig to and past its normal position. I
estimate that the vibrations of a stream of air imping-
ing against a fixed body will be thirty times that of
water having the same velocity, or from 3,600 to 4,500
vibrations per second ; and if the velocity of the air is
doubled or tripled, the vibrations will be increased in
the same ratio, making the vibrations greater than
necessary to produce the highest note that can be made
on any wind instrument.

In the common whistle, flue organ pipe, flageolet,
flute, and similar instruments, it is the lapping of the
stream of air when it strikes the outer lip of the sound
hole that puts in vibration the column of air within
the pi pe or tube and produces the sound. The moving
of the sound wave within the pipe is governed by the
length of the column of air, and this movement of the
sound wave has the same effect on the lapping of the
stream of air as the moving of the board has on the
lapping of the stream of viscid liquid, and shows why the
pitch of a flue organ pipe is governed by the length of
the column of air above the sound hole, and how the
opening and closing of the lateral holes of the flute
make it possible to produce the chromatic scale.

In the free and beating reed class of instruments the
current of air is in the same plane as the flat or inside
surface of the reed. Whether the friction of the air
against the inside surface of the reed or that which
impinges against the edge of the reed causes the lap-
ping or whether the two opposite currents from both
sides of the reed impinge against the other and cause
a lapping is not material. I think it is one of the three,
or perhaps all of the three, that produces the lapping
that causes the reed to vibrate. In the double reed
the current of air impinges against the edges of the
reed, or the friction against the inner walls of the reed
causes'a lappine and the reed to vibrate.

Some writers think that the lips of the player on a horn
act similarly to r double reed, or, in other words, form
a double reed. There is no doubt that they do vibrate
with great rapidity. Regarding the lips as a double
reed, it is the friction of the air against the lips that
causes the stream of air to lap, which sets the column
of air within the horn in vibration.

E. H. Hawlet.

Washington, D. C.

^ « • > »

♦For a f oiler description of Mr Smith's theory, see Nature, Vol. 8, pp.
25. 15 ; Vol. 9, p. 301 ; Vol. 10, pp. 161, 481 ; Vol. 11, pp. 825, 425 ; Vol. 12,
p. 145 ; and Vol. 18, p. 571.

Armor on Warships.

To the Editor of the Scientific American :

I have been much interested in the accounts of our
navy and its armament given in your Supplements.

According to them, the Harvey armor has an ex-
tremely hard face, but the hardening process only
affects the steel for an inch or two in from the surface,
and the rest of the plate has no more resisting power
than so much tough steel. At first, when the projectiles
struck the hardened face, their points were shattered
and they failed to get through. This was met by pro-
tecting the point of the projectile with a soft steel cap
which kept the point from breaking up, thus allowing
it to penetrate the armor.

Were the armor to consist of two plates of the Harvey-
ized armor, set one behind the other with an air space
between them, would not these results follow ?

First. — The projectile would have twice the depth of
hardened steel to penetrate and a less thickness of
armor would be required for the same resistance.

Second. — The soft cap would disappear from the pro-
jectile on its impact with the outer plate, and it would
have to penetrate the second plate without the advant-
ages accruing from the soft cap.

Third. — The lightening of the vessel. Such a double,
or even treble system would reduce the aggregate thick-
ness of armor, and give opportunity for a heavier arm-
ament or larger coal supply.

The space between the layers is evidently important,
as guarding against the possibility of the outer plates
taking the place of the soft cap in enabling the projec-
tile to pierce the second.

I should feel obliged if you can express an opinion on
the subject, either by letter or your correspondence
columns. C. W. Kellogg.

Vineland, N. J., September 2, 1898.

[The system of disposing the armor in two separated
walls is nothing new, lor it is adopted in such vessels as
the " Brooklyn " and " New York," where a projectile
would first encounter a belt of vertical armor and then
a wall of inclined armor, forming what is known as the
"slopes" of the armored deck The theory of this
system of distribution is correctly stated by our corre-
spondent.

The space between belt and sloping deck is devoted
to coal bunkers, and the coal would assist in burstine
and scattering and checking a shell before it reached
the deck armor. — Ed.]

miscellaneous Notes and Receipts.

Green patina on zinc roofs which lasts for years is
produced in the following manner: Cleanse the zinc of
all dirt and coat it repeatedly with a diluted solution
of copper nitrate. When the whole roof has been
thus coppered over, cover it with a likewise diluted
solution of carbonate of ammonia. On this coat of
copper, patina readily forms — Maler Zeitung.

Highly Expansive Enamels. — Mr. Saglio reports to
the Soci6t6 d' Encouragement de l'lndustrie Nationale
the results of his researches on highly expansive enam-
els, which are as follows: 1. That silica, kaolin, petal-
ite, and zircon impart to the enamel infusibility and
insolubility, but lessen the expansiveness. 2. That
calcic phosphate increases the expansiveness, gives vis-
cosity to the enamel in fusion and imparts to it a cer-
tain insolubility. 3. That cryolite, fluorspar, and,
above all, rutile (which seems to fix the boraeic acid
well), increase the expansiveness and the fluidity of
the enamel. — Moniteur de la Bijouterie, etc.

Absolute alcohol has, up to now, been produced by
treating ordinary alcohol with calcium chloride or
caustic lime or barium oxide, e. c, which substances
remove the water from the alcohol. These processes
are rather tedious and also entail a considerable loss.
As reported by the Farben Zeitung, absolute alcohol
can be obtained in a very convenient way by introduc-
ing calcium carbide into the ordinary alcohol. The
latter is strongly attacked by the water contained in
the alcohol, and acetylene is formed as long as water is
present. For the separation of the resulting lime and
the calcium carbide not attacked, the alcohol is subse-
quently evaporated. On the other hand, calcium car-
bide may be employed as a reagent, by means of which
may be ascertained whether any more water is present
in the alcohol or not.

The Japanese Wood Oil. — According to Emil K.
Blum me, the Japanese wood oil is, both in China and
Japan, principally obtained in large quantiiies by
expressing the seeds of Aleurites cordata, and is util-
ized as lacquer as well as for illuminating purposes.
Efforts were made to introduce it into Europe, and it
might successfully be employed in the manufacture of
lacquer and oil paints. It was examined by CloBz
about twenty years ago and recently by Davies and
Holmes. It consists of oleine (red oil) and elaeomarga-
rine (a glyceride of the acid CuHaoOa). The tree yield-
ing the oil is in China called " ying tzu tung" (ying-
bottle), on account of the bottle-shaped fruits. Aleu-
rites cordata attains to a height of 20 to 25 feet, grows
in rocky ground, and is chiefly found in Hunan,
Hupeh, and Szechuen. The fruit, which contains from
five to seven large, poisonous seeds, from which the oil
is pressed, is gathered in August and September and
sent to Hankow. The oil is obtained in the following
manner: The dried nuts are thrown into a flat dish of
about two feet diameter, and roasted over direct fire.
They are next pulverized between stones, and squeezed
in wooden presses, whereby the oil exudes, which is
then strained. After the nuts have been freed from
the oil, they are charred in China, thereby furnishing
a valuable soot, which is utilized in the manufacture
of "India ink." The oil, when freshly prepared, is
said to be exceedingly poisonous, and is used for adul-
terating the Gurjuu balsam (from Dipterocarpus tur-
binatus). Two sorts of wood oil, to wit. Canton oil and
Hankow oil, are distinguished in China.

Glacial acid produced a turbidity at 47° C. When
5 grammes oil are mixed with 2 c. cm. sulphur chloride
(SjClj), to which are added 2 c. cm. carbon disulphide
(CS S ), the mixture congeals, after one and one-half
minutes, into a thick, sticky paste, at ordinary tem-
perature. This paste is not as hard as that obtained
from castor or linseed oil. If 4 grammes of the oil are
heated in a capsule 7 cm. wide, a film forms on the
edge after fifteen minutes, and after two hours it is so
thick that by reversing the capsule no oil will escape.
The increase of weight was during an exposition of
four hours — 0'36 per cent an hour. When heating the
oil with argentic nitrate (AgNOs), a red-brown color
ensued after fifteen minutes. Concentrated sulphuric
acid produced a black lump in the oil, while nitric
acid (D = l - 4) converted the oil, after two minutes, into
a firm lump, which became dark and friable after-
ward.

If 1 gramme oil is dissolved in 5 c. cm. chloroform,
and 5 c. cm. of a saturated solution of iodine in chloro-
form are added, a thick paste forms after a few min-
utes, while diligently stirring the mixture.

Analysis has furnished the following values :

Density at 15 5° C 08885

Congealing point, about 17° C.

Hflbl's iodine No 1657

Saponification No. (mg. of KOH) 194

Hehner No. (insoluble fatty acids) 96*4 per cent.

Non-saponifiable parts 0"44 per cent.

Reaction of the specific temperature. 372

Free fatty acids 3 84 per cent.

The mixture of fatty acids showed :

Congealing point 37° C.

Melting point. 87° C.

Htlbl'B iodine No.... 1501

— Chemiker und Techniker Zeitung.

© 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

200

Sf dtntxiu fkmttmu.

[September 24, 1898.

A NEW LIGHT UPON THE EGYPTIANS.

BY WALTER L. BBA8LBT.

It has been supposed that embalming the dead and
converting the bodies into mummies was the earliest
and universal mode of disposing of the dead among the
ancient Egyptians. This long accepted theory has
been almost conclusively overturned by the recent
startling discoveries of Prof. Flinders Petrie, who has
thrown fresh light on tne methods of burial of the
ancient Egyptians. During
the excavations conducted
by him at Deshasheh,
about fifty miles south of
Cairo, a series of old Mas-
taba tombs, dating back
3,500 years, were opened.
On uncovering the lid of a
number of wooden coffins,
instead of the usual type
of embalmed mummy
being revealed, the dis-
sected body of a woman,
carefully wrapped in
mummy cloth and linen,
was disclosed, but the flesh
had been entirely removed
from the bones, unmistak-
ably before burial. The
uncovering of the muti-
lated flesh-scraped remains
at Deshasheh ranks among
the most astonishing arch-
aeological discoveries of the
age, and goes far toward
confirming the theory of
cannibalism among the
cultured Egyptians. The
accompanying photograph
shows the dissected por,
tions of the body of a royal
lady — a priestess — named

Mery, lying on top of the original coffin in which her
body was discovered. In the coffin was found a pair of
wooden mortuary sandals and a head rest, on the sides of
which were painted the name and title of the deceased
noblewoman. The head rest was used to avoid disar-
ranging the elaborate head dress and placed in the
tomb along with her sandals for the use of the de-
ceased. It is made of one block of sycamore, covered
with a coating of stucco, grained to represent costly
wood. The coffin, notwithstanding its nearly 5,000
years of entombment beneath the sands of the Nile, is
to-day almost in perfect preservation, though some-
what injured during excavation and subsequent hand-
lings. The various pieces were admirably fitted to-
gether, so that one sees the original almost intact.
Down the middle of the lid and sides and ends are
inscribed petitions of magical efficacy, which secure
the deceased the satisfaction of all temporal wants, es-
pecially clothing, food, and drink. At the head and
left side are painted a pair of eyes, which look toward
the rising sun, and through which the deceased looked
out. The coffin exhibits
the form used in the old
and middle empires. The
material is sycamore wood,
small pieces of which are
fastened together by
means of wooden pins into
suitable planks, no large
trees being found in Egypt.
The corners are mitered
and were fastened together
by thorns countersunk in-
side them. The coffin was
covered with a coating of
stucco and decorated with
a series of hieroglyphic in-
scriptions. There was
found hanging'np near the
coffin a decorated panel or
tomb drawing, which is
particularly noteworthy
from the fact that it is one
of the oldest specimens of
freehand work in exist-
ence. The picture is done
in water colors, the pig-
ments retaining their origi-
nal color in a remarkable
manner, while the execu-
tion shows considerable
skill and knowledge of
draughtsmanship. The

picture dates back from the fifth dynasty, so that we
are looking at the handiwork of an artist who lived some
5,000 years ago. The picture represents thesacred bark
and rowers of the dead priestess Mery. The cord from
which it was partly suspended from the wall of the
tomb is still attached. Sets of amethysts and beads
of the fifth dynasty were also found in the coffin. In a
statue chamber o f a n adjoining tomb was found a lime-
stone statue of a ruler named Nankheltka and his wife.

It is the opinion of Profs. Petrie and Brugsch that
the custom of cannibalism was brought into Egypt
by the Libyan invaders who occupied Upper Egypt
about 3300 B. C. (See "Eaten With Honor," by Prof.
W. M. F. Petrie, Contemporary Review, June, 1897.)
They habitually cut up and dismembered the bodies of
the dead, eating the flesh as a part of the burial cere-
mony to increase the eaters' own intellectual powers as
well as imbibing all the magical attributes of the vic-

A NEWLY DISC0VEEED METHOD OF DISPOSING OF THE DEAD IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

tim consumed. It will be, however, for future exca-
vations to throw additional light and furnish positive
proof whether the removing of the flesh from the
body prior to burial was done as a ceremonial rite or a
cannibalistic habit, pure and simple. The accompany-
ing photographs were taken at the Haskell Oriental
Museum, of Chicago, by the writer, where they and
other antiquities have recently arrived, through pur-
chase by the Chicago Society of Egyptian Research
from the Egyptian Exploration Fund. Prof. James
Henry Breasted, Egyptologist of the University, con-
siders the collection by all odds the finest and most
valuable which has yet reached American shores.

Founder of the Red Cross.

To Mr. Henri Dunant, a Swiss gentleman, belongs
the honor of inaugurating this movement, says
Woman's Home Companion. Being in Italy at the
time of the battle of Solierino, June 24, 1859, lie visited
the battlefield. Appalled by the needless and terrible
suffering, he remained many days, doing all in his

fatigably to win adherents to his cause, writing articles,
delivering addresses, traveling from place to place,
consulting officials high in authority at the European
courts. . . . By the provision of the Red Cross
treaty, surgeons, nurses, ambulance trains, and all
hospital supplies are considered neutral, provided
they display a uniform badge and flag, accompanied
by their national flag.
In compliment to Mr. Dunant and the Swiss gov-
ernment the protective
sign and flag agreed upon
was a red Greek cross on a
white ground — the reverse
of the Swiss flag. Turkey
alone has objected to this.
Her soldiers, in their in-
tense hatred of the Chris-
tian symbol, refused to
work under a banner with
a cross, and they were al-
lowed to use a red cres-
cent in its place.

Mr. Dunant is now about
seventy years of age. Hav-
ing spent half his fortune
in establishing the Red
Cross, and having lost the
other half in unfortunate
business ventures, he lived
for many years poor and
forgotten, in a plain dis-
trict infirmary in Switz
erland, of which he him-
self was the founder.
Now, however, through
the pensions granted him
by the Dowager Empress
of Russia and the Federal
Council of Switzerland,
and the generous gifts of
money sent him by the
citizens of Stuttgart, Germany, he is spending a peace-
ful old age in comfort and plenty.

EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES, HASKELL ORIENTAL MUSEUM, CHICAGO.

power to relieve it. During these terrible days Mr.
Dunant conceived the idea of a system of organized
relief whereby aid could be given under such circum-
stances. Returning home, he published a little book,
called "Recollections of Solferino," that aroused great
interest. His appeal touched a responsive ehord in all
hearts. Being invited to address 1 the Geneva Society
of Public Utility on the subject, he unfolded to them
| his plans. From that time forward he labored inde-

I'lie Chinese Calendar.

The Chinese do not compute their time by centuries,
but by periods of sixty years (luck shiapsix wood) ; each
year in this space of time has its own name, partly re-
lating to the five elements adopted by the Chinese
sages, viz., wood, fire, earth, mineral, and water, partly
connected with denominations of live creatures, such
as rat, cattle, tiger, hare, etc. From the combination
of these two factors into a double word results, at the
same time, whether the year is a lucky or an unlucky
one. If, for instance, wood and cattle meet in the
name of a year, this signifies a good crop ; fire and
tiger prophesy a year of war. The year 1897 bore the
name of dingh-dan — fire and fowl — and signifies a year
of peace. The Chinese attach great value to these
names, and are frequently governed in their enterprises
by the fact whether the name of the year implies luck
or bad luck. The division of the year is a twofold one,

it being divided into 12
months and 24 semi-
months. The latter bear
the signs of the old Chinese
zodiac, and are called rain-
water, vernal equinox, pure
light, rain for the fruit,
morning flush of summer,
little rainy season, seed of
the herbs, summer solstice,
commencement of the heat,
great heat, sign of autumn,
end of the heat, white dew,
etc. Like us, the Chinese
have four seasons (mua).
The months have alternate-
ly 29 (weak months) and 30
days (strong months) ; fre-
quently leap months are
introduced for the sake of
equalization. According to
the Chinese calendar, there
are also two kinds of weeks,
some of 10 days and others
of 15 days, so that a month
is divided either into two »r
three weeks. The first days
of the months are designat-
ed by numbers, but the first
day is also called that of
the weasel and the last one
that of return, every day of
the full moon being styled l he day of hope. The night
is taken at 7 hours, the day at 5. The counting of the
12 hours, each equal to two of ours, commences at 11
o'clock at night.

Frequently, however, the hours are also designated
by animal names ; thus the midnight hour is called the
hour of the rat, while the midday hour is that of the
horse. Each hour is divided into double minutes,
minutes, and seconds. — Staats Zeitung.

) 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

September 24, 1898.]

Sftintitit ^mmwu.

201

THE TBANSSIBEBIAN BAILBOAS.
(Continued from first page.)
must say that it was agreeable and even necessary
under the circumstances.

My object, however, is not to give incidents of travel,
but to describe briefly the
railroads themselves, espe-
cially the gigantic one that
is now binding Europe and
Asia together by bands of
steel. As usual, the ubi-
quitous Yankee is in evi-
dence, and undoubtedly
had much to do with the
introduction of railroads
into Russia. This helps to
explain the fact that many
conveniences are found
there which we look for in
vain in other parts of
Europe. But we were
struck by one fact so de-
cidedly unlike the Ameri-
can way that we sought
an explanation, namely,
that the road never hits
any except the large
cities, the station being
usually several miles from
the town or village whose
name it bears. The ex-
planation is that when two
American engineers laid
before a former Czar care-
fully drawn plans for a rail-
road from St. Petersburg
to Moscow, touching at in-
tervening cities, his ma-
jesty took a ruler, drew a
straight line between the
two capitals, saying like
the autocrat that he was,
" Build it there ! " Of course

it was done, and the example thus set was followed
elsewhere throughout the empire.

To understand the railway system one must first
glance at the river system. The streams of European
Russia mainly rise in the Valdai plateau, parts of
which are 1,500 feet above the sea level, whence they
sluggishly flow to the Arctic, Black, Baltic, or Caspian
Sea. This immense river system, aided by canals,
makes Russia in Europe accessible to St. Petersburg
by 38,000 miles of navigable water, carrying last year

81,000 vessels and 140,000 rafts. Imagine a vast plain
stretching for 1,800 miles from the Baltic Sea to the
Ural Mountains, and for double that distance from the
Arctic Ocean to the Caucasus, including vast forests,
the rich black zone of '• tschernoziom, " then barren,

A BAILWAY CUT AHID THE UBALS.

treeless steppes, beyond which is the saline desert for-
merly the bed of an immense sea of which the Caspian
and Aral are the remnants ; and it is evidently a region
favorable to the railroads which are now being built
over it in every direction, to meet the varied wants of
115,000,000 inhabitants.

The Siberian river system, however, is different. All
large streams, whether rising near the Urals or the
Pacific coast, flow northward to the Arctic Ocean.
Yet here, as in Europe, there are immense plains, so

that the waterway from the river Ural to the mouth
of the Lena, a distance of 6,000 miles, is interrupted by
only two short portages. Hence this Asiatic region
also favors easy railroad building, with the exception
of the rugged hills and deep volcanic fissures around

Lake Baikal, where the
obstacles can only be over-
come at a great outlay of
money and labor.

From the times of Peter
the Great to these days of
Nicholas II., the great pro-
blem of Russia has been
that of getting free access
to the outside commercial
world. The ports along
the White and Arctic Seas
are blocked by ice most of
the year ; the Caspian is
landlocked ; egress by the
Black and Baltic can only
be had by the friendly per-
mission of other nations.
Hence arose an imperative
demand for a transcon-
tinental railway that
should wind over the
steppes of Orenburg, the
Ural plateaus, the plains
of western Siberia, climb
or pierce the hills below
Lake Baikal, cross Trans-
baikal to the valley of the
Amur, thence down to
Vladivostok, on the Japan
Sea, and ultimately to
Port Arthur and the open
Pacific Ocean.

This most extraordinary

railroad undertaking could

not all be done at once.

Nor is it clear to every

writer where the Trans-

siberian Railway actually begins. In 1878 the Ural

line was built as far as Ekatherinburg. Four years

later Ostrovski made surveys that met governmental

favor, outlining a road from Perm to Tobolsk and

thence to Irkutsk, his object being to open the mining

regions. A line was also projected from Moscow

across the tschernoziom belt to Oufa. where our

Russian friends drew our attention to the splendid

lattice girder steel bridge, over the river Bielaia, which

is a subject of illustration, as a specimen of the work

TBAH88IBEBU1T BAIIWAY-STEEL BBIDGE AT OUT A, 0VEB THE BIELAIA BIYEB.

© 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

202

gtmtiiu &mttmu.

[September 24, 1898

being done on their Transsiberian road. They likewise
spoke of the charming city of Zlatoost as the starting
place for that great railway. No more lovely situation
can be imagined than that held by this busy mart
and manufacturing city of 40,000 inhabitants, the last
European station of any importance before crossing
the boundary line into Asia. It is in the picturesque
valley of the river Ai, whose waters here expand in a
lake. But, so far as the Siberian part of the road is
concerned, it is proper to speak of it as starting from
Tcheliabinsk, where are the offices and works. But,
after all, when ultimately completed, the main ter-
mini will be St. Petersburg and Vladivostok or Port
Arthur.

The relation held to this continental enterprise by
the reigning Czar is interesting. While Czaroviteh
he explored Siberia, went on to China as the guest of
Li-Hung-Chang, and made himself master of every
available source of information concerning the pro-
jected railway. The result was an imperial rescript,
March 17, 1891, ordering work to be begun at several
points simultaneously. The formal inauguration of it
was by the Czaroviteh, who wheeied away the first
barrowload of soil and laid the first block of stone at
Vladivostok. The Emperor also made him the first
president of the road, a relationship which the latter
continued to hold after he became the reigning Czar.
The actual work of construction, however, was put in
the hands of a committee in June, 1893, which is a
branch of the Department of Ways and Communica-
tions ; having only administrative power, the Emperor
himself retaining executive authority.

The committee of construction divided the main line
into seven sections, and estimated the cost of each as
follows, although subsequent modifications were made
both in the sections and estimates :

1. Tcheliabinsk to Ob, 1,328 wersts, cost 47,000,000
rubles.

2. Ob to Irkutsk, 1,745 wersts, cost 73.000,000 rubles.

3. Irkutsk to Misovskaia, 292 wersts, cost 22,000,000
rubles.

4. Misovskaia to Srjetensk, 1,009 wersts, cost 53,000,-
000 rubles.

5. Srjetensk to Khabarovsk, 2,000 wersts, cost 117,-
0i:0,0: rubles.

6. Khabarovsk to Grafskaia, 347 wersts, cost 18,000,-
000 rubles.

7. Grafskaia to Vladivostok, 382 wersts, cost 17,000,000
rubles.

Thus the total distance between the Siberian ter-
mini would be 7,112 wersts (4,742 miles), and the total
estimated cost 347,000,000 rubles (about $173,000, 000)—
although this cost will be much exceeded. At the time
of our visit to Siberia we were informed that more
than 5,000 miles of steel rails had been laid, at a cost
of about 350,000.000 rubles, and the close of the year
1897 saw the road open as far as Nijni Udinsk. Now
Irkutsk has been reached on a tributary of the Yenis-
sei, the most important place in Eastern Siberia, and
3,780 miles distant from St. Petersburg. It is promised
that by 1899 direct railroad communication will be
open between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, with
the exception of ferrying across the treacherous cur-
rents of Lake Baikal, a body of water 466 miles long
and about 55 miles wide, supposed to be the reservoir
of numerous subterranean rivers.

The ferrying will be by a steamer of 4,000 tons, carry-
ing the trains. Ultimately, this hazardous bit of navi-
gation will be obviated by the track now being laid
around the south shore of the lake and through tun-
nels, one of which will be 12,500 feet in length. The
imperial order is that the entire road shall be com-
pleted between 1902 and 1905.

In 1895 the department reported as employed on the
West, Middle, Transbaikal, and Ussuri divisions 36.-
629 navvies, 13.080 carters. 5,851 surface men, 4,310
carpenters, 4,096 stone masons, and 2,091 riveters — 62,-
000 men in all. But such was the eagerness for the
speedy completion of this undertaking that, in
the following year, there were said to be fully 200,000
men at work.

The portion of the road that we saw was rock bal-
lasted and equal to the best to be found 'anywhere
in Europe ; though, from our American point of view,
the rails are too light, about 75 pounds to the yard,
for the heavy traffic. Colonel Waters, of the British
embassy, is quoted as saying, " The work done has
been remarkably good, and in point of quality the
line, when completed, will be equal to the Canadian
Pacific." On the other hand, we were told, concerning
certain portions of the road, that the ties were laid
directly on the grass or sand, and that the work is
being pushed along too rapidly. All agree, however,
that the road, when finished, is to be as substantial as
possible in every respect, and that it is to be equipped
with every modern appliance for safety, comfort, and
convenience.

Convict labor has been used on a large scale in the
central section of the road, the terms being that eight
months of railroad work should offset one year's im-
prisonment: and special off ers of registration as peas-
ants were held out as an inducement to exiles. Free
labor was paid for usually at the rate of. from 50 cents

to $1 a day, according to skill required and the
nature of the work to be done. Many, however, re-
ceived less than this amount. It is not easy to estimate
the great variety and quantity of labor needed for
building this thoroughfare. For instance, the bridges
involve very difficult engineering problems. They
must be protected by peculiar skill against the tre-
mendous ice gorges that occur at the breaking up
of winter. We saw retaining walls more than one
hundred feet high, laid in cement. The deep cuts
through limestone, granite, and other rocks are of
enormous magnitude. An illustration is given of a
deep cut amid the Ural Mountains. Some of the
bridges are very long. That over the Volga is 4,500 feet
in length, and is said to be the longest steel bridge in
the world. The river Ob is spanned by a bridge 2,500
feet long, and the Yenessei by one 3,000 feet long. The
manner of testing these massive structures is to let four
or more locomotives with a loaded train of cars stand
on a bridge for several hours, and then to run them
back and forth a number of times at a constantly in-
creasing rate of speed, till the maximum is reached.
The fuel used on the engines has been wood and crude
petroleum. Coal has been found along the road near
Pavlodai, allied to anthracite, and some of the seams
in the Selenga valley are said to be thirty feet thick.

In December, 1896, the Cassini treaty was published,
securing the right to build a Transmanchurian branch,
leaving the Siberian road at Onon, entering China,
running through Manchuria for 1,280 miles, and join-
ing the original line at Nikolskaia on the Ussuri sec-
tion, thus shortening the route about 350 miles. The
significance of the Cassini treaty is that it really means
a Russian administration of the affairs of Northern
China, and that it will make the actual eastern ter-
minus, not Vladivostok, but Port Arthur. This occu-
pation of Port Arthur has been regarded as a Russian
trick ; but in reality it was a commercial necessity. As
Count Mouravieff claimed last February, " It is natural
that Russia should wish to have an outlet for her com-
merce on the coasts of the North Pacific." liut he
added, "Any such port would be open to the ships of
all the great powers, and open to the commerce of all
the world." We are apt to forget that 4,000 miles of
Russian frontier touch China, and it is inevitable that
the two nations should combine for the mutual protec-
tion of that long stretch. At all events, Russia, in
March, 1898, formulated its final demand for the per-
manent lease of Port Arthur and Talienwan, as requit-
ing her for her services in clearing the Japanese from
China, and her claim was granted. As remarked by
an English writer, " Had Port Arthur been called Fort
Arthur, certain mistakes would have been avoided. It
is a military point, and is to Talienwan what any fort
would be to a port that it covered and commanded.
The latter is destined to be the Russian Liverpool, the
terminus of a railroad costing $250,000,000 ; and Russia
must protect such an emporium of world wide com-
merce."

Of course this transcontinental railroad will enor-
mously affect the transportation of Eastern goods df
high value, as well as passenger travel and immigra-
tion. It is estimated that the revenue from duties on
the single item of tea will be increased by 9,000,000
rubles a year. There will be a great output of all
kinds of farm produce, and we should remember that
Russia is one of the greatest agricultural regions on the
globe. Mining products also will feel the stimulus and
have such a development as will astonish those who
have not given the matter due attention. Our geo-
logical party were impressed by the conviction that the
mines of Russia are but very imperfectly worked, as
compared with those of our own country, and are cap-
able of yielding many fold what they now produce.
And as to passenger rates, it is officially announc-
ed that the time from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok
will be less than fourteen days, and possibly as low as
ten ; and that when all plans are worked out, the time
from London to the Far East will not exceed eleven
days, instead of the thirty now consumed by the trip
via Brindisi and the Suez Canal. A ticket by the lat-
ter route now is sold for $428 ; but by the Transsiberian
route it will cost only $119, first class, and other classes
lower in proportion. Plainly this will be the great
highway of the nations, and England herself will have
to send her Australian mail via Moscow and Talienwan.

The reader is referred, for more full statistics, to the
official report on " Siberia and the Great Siberian
Railroad," recently published at St. Petersburg, by
the Department of Trade and Manufacture. Ministry
of Finance ; also to the reports of M. Chilkov, the
Russian Minister of Communication. This latter au-
thority confidently predicts that, early in the twentieth
century, the diligent " globe trotter " can girdle the
earth from St. Petersburg around to St. Petersburg
again in thirty-three days.

Lava streams that have flowed out of Vesuvius dur-
ing the last three years have deposited 105,000,000 cubic
meters of lava on the sides of the mountain. A cone
of lava 330 feet high has been formed, out of which
fresh streams are flowing. The valleys on either side
of the observatory peak" have been completely filled.

Coral Reef Investigation.

In order to test the values of different theories en-
tertained for the origin of coral reefs, borings have
been made in islands supposed to be situated in re-
gions of submergence. Reports have already been
given in The Independent of those made by Prof.
Agassiz, at Key West, and by Prof. Sollas, off Australia.
The first proved the true coral rock to be compara-
tively thin; the second was a failure, because of acci-
dent to the boring tools. A committee of the Royal
Society of England is continuing the work of boring
in the atoll of Funafuti, one of the Ellice Islands, about
five hundred miles north of the Fijis, under the direc-
tion of Prof. David. This is a circular island, rising
solitarily from a plateau 2,000 feet deep. This boring
had reached the depth of 653 feet, as reported by Prof.
Bonney, November 25 last. The material to the depth
of 200 feet corresponds very well to the ordinary reef.
For 170 feet thickness lower down the cores represent
substances produced in the vicinity of a reef. From
370 to 643 feet the rock is more like that first passed
through. Work is still being prosecuted at this locality.
Meanwhile, Prof. Alexander Agassiz has reached the
Fijis with all the facilities for boring, and the inten-
tion of sinking a well at Suva, presumably to confirm
the results attained by Prof. David. From a letter
dated December 15 last, published in The American
Journal of Science for February, it appears that Prof.
Agassiz has made discoveries rendering another bor-
ing unnecessary. According to Darwin and Dana, it
is impossible to find a better series of islands than the
Fijis to illustrate the changes brought about by sub-
sidence, there having been first an original volcanic
island around which a fringing coral reef grew: next
after sinking appeared the barrier reef ; then an atoll;
and, finally, one where there is only a more or less cir-
cular reefing.

After traveling some thirteen hundred miles through-
out the archipelago, Prof. Agassiz has discovered that
it is a region of elevation instead of subsidence, as he
found numerous examples of elevated reefs at various
levels up to 800 feet. Those are described in detail
over about three-fourths of the archipelago. Not only
are the reefs elevated, but they have been deeply
eroded, producing gorges, separated by sharp, serrated
ridges, thus bearing witness to the great length of time
that has elapsed since their elevation. The conclusion
is, therefore, that the corals of to-day have played no
part in the shaping of the atolls among the Fijis, nor
can the building up of the barriers be explained by
submergence. The accumulations gathered by recent
corals can form only a crust of very moderate thick-
ness upon a base either of an eroded elevated reef or a
substructure of volcanic material. The theory of Dar-
win and Dana cannot be applicable to the islands and
atolls of the Fiji group; but we must rather accept the
views of Murray, as illustrated in the reports of the
" Challenger" expedition, which agree essentially with
those of Agassiz. There may, however, be no general
theory of the formation of coral reefs of universal ap-
plication. With such divergent views as have been
given us by the ablest naturalists, it would seem as if
different regions might have been acted upon vari-
ously.

* i t> i m

A Brazilian Indian Telephone.

Mr. Jose Bach, in a narrative of his travels among
the Indians of the regions of the Amazon, describes
in L'lllustration an instrument by means of which
these people communicate with each other at a dis-
tance.

These natives live in groups of from one hundred to
two hundred persons, and in dwellings called " maloc-
cas," which are usually situated at a distance of half a
mile or a mile apart.

In each malocca there is an instrument called a
" cambarisa," which consists essentially of a sort of
wooden drum that is buried for half of its height in
sand mixed with fragments of wood, bone, and mica,
and is closed with a triple diaphragm of leather, wood,
and India rubber.

When this drum is struck with a wooden mallet, the
sound is transmitted to a long distance, and is dis-
tinctly heard in the other drums situated in the neigh-
boring maloecas. It is certain that the transmission
of the sound takes place through the earth, since the
blows struck are scarcely audible outside of the houses
in which the instruments are placed.

After the attention of the neighboring maloecas has
been attracted by a call blow, a conversation may be
carried on between the cambarisas designated.

According to Mr. Bach, the communication is facili-
tated by the nature of the ground, the drums doubtless
resting upon one and the same stratum of rock, since
transmission through ordinary alluvial earth could not
be depended upon.

We have here an ingenious improvement upon the
process employed by Indians for perceiving distant
noises (such as the gallop of a horse), and which con-
sists, as well known, in applying the ear to the earth.
This method was formerly much used by the people
under consideration during the course of wars of one
tribe with another.

©1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

September 24, 1898.J

Scientific Smmran.

203

EAPID-FIEE GUNS AND AMMUNITION SUPPLY IN
THE UNITED STATES NATT.

In a recent article we promised to take up the ques-
tion of rapid-fire guns and ammunition supply and
show the present status of our navy in regard to these
most important elements of the modern warship.

At the outset of the late war there was a mistaken
impression among foreign critics that the United States
Navy was severely handicapped by the lack of rapid-
fire guns on its warships, and it was supposed that even
on such vessels as possessed rapid-fire batteries the ar-
rangements for the supply of ammunition were too
faulty and slow to permit the guns being fired at their
maximum speed. Neither of these assumptions was
correct, and, indeed, so far from the navy being be-
hindhand in the development of the rapid-firing prin-
ciple, it is a fact that we were one of the first to ex-
periment in this field and were only anticipated in the
production of the 6-inch rapid-fire gun by the inability
of our manufacturers to produce a satisfactory car-
tridge for the same.

Our greatest advance in the matter of armor and

all the 4 and 5-inch rapid-fire guns in our navy. Re-
garding these mounts, which are illustrated on pages
13 and 15 of the Army and Coast Defence; Supple-
ment, we take this opportunity of correcting an error
in the titles of these cuts, which was occasioned by an
ambiguity in the official publications from which the
cuts were made. The mounts are there credited to
Lieutenant Fletcher, whereas they were actually de-
signed by Lieutenant Dashiell. Lieutenant Fletcher
has been conspicuously associated with the later devel-
opment of rapid-fire mechanism, and due reference to
his work will be made later in the present article.

The first 4-inch rapid-fire guns to be built in this
country were the Driggs-Schroeder and the Dashiell.
As the Navy Department favored the slotted-screw
system for its large guns, the Dashiell was adopted as
soon as the gun passed a satisfactory test, which was
in June, 1891. As far as mere rapidity of fire was con-
cerned, the results obtained with this gun were superior
to anything that had been accomplished abroad, as it
was found to be capable of a sustained unaimed fire at
the rate of 17 shots per minute. Work on the 4-inch

" The recently adopted breech-mechanism for rapid-
fire guns of 4, 5, and 6-ineh calibers haa been put to a
most thorough test with both good and defective am-
munition. Four-inch gun No. 11 was fired 248 times.
The breech-mechanism was worked about 8,000 times
with tight-fitting cartridge cases. These cases had to
be hammered into the gun, and were selected for the
purpose of testing the extractor. There has been no
failure in the action of any part. A test of rapidity of
fire was made before the Chief of Bureau and bu refill
officers. Five rounds were fired in seventeen seconds*,
using experimental cases. Since then on two occasions
five rounds have been fired in fourteen seconds. On
the second trial the gun was laid at 10° elevation and
all five projectiles were in the air together. Similar
exhaustive trials have been held with the 5-inch rapid-
fire mechanism. Five rounds have been fired in two
instances in twenty-four seconds and twenty-two sec-
onds respectively, without preliminary drill."

The 6-inch rapid-fire gun, with cartridge case, passed
the development stage in the winter of 1894-95, since
which time the 6-inch rapid-fire gun has become the

^W

AMMUNITION HOISTS FOB SUPPLYING 4-INCH EAPID-FIEE GUNS ON THE MONITOB " PUBITAN."

rapid-fire guns was made when Commander Folger,
now of the U. S. S. "New Orleans," was the Chief of
Bureau of Ordnance. It was his ambition to make
every gun, including the 8-inch, rapid-fire in charac-
ter, and that he did not accomplish all of his antici-
pations in this respect is owing to the fact that the
private manufacturers, upon whom the government
must depend for its supply of cartridge cases, were un-
able to manufacture eases of the size called for. The
result was that, when Commander Folger resigned
from the bureau in the winter of 1893, the 4-ineh and
5-ineh guns were the only calibers fully and satisfac-
torily developed, although the plans were already on
foot for rapid-fire guns of calibers above the 4-inch and
5-inch, and for the manufacture and development of
smokeless powder — that " open sesame " of the dreams
of the rapid-fire gun inventor.

The early history of the development of the large
caliber, rapid-fire gun in this country is also intimately
associated with the name of Lieutenant R. B. Dashiell,
Assistant Naval Constructor, United States Navy, who
is the inventor of the excellent breech mechanism
which bears his name, and of the mounts which carry

guns was at once rushed at the Washington Navy Yard ;
and from that time on only the rapid-fire 4-inch was
made, the old-fashioned 4-inch at once becoming obso-
lete. In the following fall the first 5-inch rapid-fire
Dashiell gun was finished and tested. It gave results
as much ahead of the foreign caliber as the 4-ineh had
done. It was at once adopted, and its manufacture
was hurried as much as possible in order to arm
ships of the "Detroit " and " Cincinnati " class. The
"Olympia," flagship of Admiral Dewey at the battle
of Manila, was also fitted with ten of these guns, and in
that memorable fight there were no less than twenty
5-inch rapid fire guns engaged. All of our vessels of
the new navy carrying 4 and 5 5 inch guns have their
batteries of the rapid-fire type and are fully up to date
in every feature, except that of smokeless powder, and
this indispensable element of rapid-fire efficiency has
now been adopted as standard and will soon be in ex-
clusive use throughout the navy.

As showing the excellent results obtained at an early
day of the development of rapid-fire guns we direct at-
tention to the report of the Chief of Bureau of Ord-
nance for 1892, which says :

standard of its caliber, and no more guns of the ordi-
nary type are manufactured. Before the appearance
of the 6-inch cartridge case as an article of commercial
manufacture, Lieut. Dashiell endeavored to obtain
rapid-fire results from a 6-inch gun by using a quick-
acting mechanism with the De Bange gas check. By
this means the gun-breech could be handled rapidly
and considerable time saved in the service of the gun.
As an example of what was done with a gun so fitted,
attention is drawn to the same report of the Chief of
Bureau of Ordnance for 1892, which says, in speaking
of the experiments made that year with smokeless
powder, " Besides the advantages of smokelessness and
high velocities, the quality of leaving no dirt or fouling
in the gun places at once the 6-inch gun with quick-
acting mechanism among rapid-firing guns, even if
using the service cartridge bag and the De Bange
check and priming for each shot. As an example, be-
fore the Howell board, ten rounds were fired in two
minutes and fifty-six seconds, sponging the chamber
and wiping ou gast-cheeks after each round. The time
for sponging was five seconds, for wiping out slope two
seconds, or a loss of seven seconds due to the use of a

© 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

204

Sf tuntxiu %mtxmu.

| September 24, 1898.

powder with a residue. There being nine intervals in
the ten rounds, one minute and three seconds would
have been saved had smokeless powder been used, or
the ten shots would have been fired in one minute and
fifty-three seconds, which is as good if not better than
the record of any foreign 6-ineh gun with projectile of
100 pounds weight." At the time of these tests a test
was also made of a gun fitted with the slow-fire me-
chanism, the conditions of firing being precisely simi-
lar for each gun. The gun with the ordinary slow-fire
service mechanism took five minutes and two seconds
for the ten rounds.

These experiments are of great interest in that they
show that the ordinary delivery of a 6-inch gun was
more than doubled by application of quick-acting me-
chanism, even without the use of smokeless powder,
and that this result was obtained as far back as 1892.
In 1897, five years later, the Vickers Sons & Maxim
Company, of England, produced a gun on the same
principle — a quick-acting mechanism with the De
Bange gas check and no cartridge cases — with which
gun they obtained a rate of fire of from seven to eight
rounds per minute. This shows that so far from
our Naval Ordnance Bureau being behind in the de-
velopment of rapid-fire ordnance, it was, so far as the
principle is concerned, five years ahead of what may be
considered the highest development of the 6-inch gun
in Europe. As the Vickers gun uses smokeless pow-
der, the results obtained were considerably ahead of
those which we achieved at our proving ground in
1892, for the reasons which we have already quoted
from the report of that year.

The good work of Lieut. Dashiell has been supple-
mented by the excellent designs of later date by Lieut.
F. P. Fletcher, whose rapid-fire mechanism is illustrated
on pages 13 and 15 of the Coast Defence number of the
SciiiuriFic American Supplement. In this me-
chanism the breech is unlocked, withdrawn, and tra-
versed clear of the breech by a single sweep of the lever
acting on a very compact worm and rack device. To
the same gentleman the navy is indebted for the quick-
acting breech mechanism applied to its heavy 12 and
13-inch guns. This is a modification of a worm and
rack device invented by a Frenchman named Farcot
in 1880. His invention was not successful, as it could
never be operated by hand power, and it was the
modification introduced by Fletcher that made it a
success. With this device the 13-inch breech has been
opened in 8% seconds, and the time between rounds
has been reduced to 1 minute and 47 seconds.

In connection with Dashiell's early experiments with
a 6-inch rapid fire mechanism, it. is interesting to note
that our government has lately purchased the rights to
use and manufacture the Vickers breech mechanism for
$200,000. With this improvement and the use of
smokeless powder added, our rapid-fire guns will stand
in the very front rank for speed and efficiency.

In regard to the ammunition supply, there is no
question but what the United States navy ranks ahead
of any other navy in the world in the success obtained
in delivering ammunition to the battery, at least so
far as the rapid-fire guns are concerned. There is, of
course, much yet to be desired in the delivery of am-
munition in turrets, but the recent invention of Lieut.

Haeseler, U. S. N., and its application to the " Texas "
has shown what can be done in this line ; for
the delivery of ammunition to the " Texas " guns has
been increased about six times by the adoption of plans
prepared by this officer. The delivery of rapid-fire
ammunition to all calibers of rapid-fire guns out of
turrets has been developed along the lines tending to
simplicity and immunity from disaster from the
enemy's fire, and it has now reached such a stage
that ammunition can be delivered at the gun as
rapidly as the gun can fire it. As a matter of fact, the
ammunition supply may be said to be excessive, be-
cause the maximum rapidity of aimed gun fire is at-
tained only in volleys for intervals of not greater than
three minutes at a time ; whereas the ammunition
hoist runs steadily as long as it is fed from the bottom.

All the hoists are of the endless chain pattern shown
in the accompanying illustrations of the hoists to the
4-inch rapid-fire guns on the monitor "Puritan." The
hoists consist principally of a trunk (see Figs. 2 and 3),
about 18 inches square for 6-inch ammunition and less
for the smaller calibers, in which runs a pair of sprocket
chains with cross bars between them at intervals. The
arrangement is practically an endless ladder with
rungs about seven feet apart. The bottom of the
trunk opens into the magazine, and the chains travel
over sprockets at the bottom of the hoist and at the
top just below the deck. The chains are driven by an
electric motor through a worm and worm-wheel. The
ascending half of the hoist passes in front of the maga-
zine door, and here the men in the magazine take the
cartridges from the racks ard place them, one at a
time, on the rungs or steps, by which they are carried
up to the gun. The speed of the chains varies from
one to two feet per second, and the delivery of the
charges is from six to eight per minute for the larger
rapid-fire guns. In the 6-pounder hoists of the "In-
diana," boxes containing eleven rounds of ammunition
have been delivered at the rate of seventeen boxes per
minute. The trunks are made of such a width that
they can be traversed by a shot, and, unless the chain
itself be cut, the burrs thrown up by such a shot will
not interfere with the passage of the round of ammu-
nition, The upper end of the hoist is made flush with
the deck and is closed with a flush scuttle plate, thus
making no obstruction whatever on the deck above.
The trunk is also closed with a watertight door in the
magazine (see Fig. 4). A number of pawls (A, A,
Fig. 2) distributed along the central guide plate in the
trunk prevent the ammunition from falling in case the
chain be shot away.

So effective is the system that, by a judicious ar-
rangement of ammunition hoists throughout a ship,
her whole ammunition can be delivered on deck in
thirty minutes. It is needless to say that the battery
could not deliver it at the enemy in thirty minutes, as
no gun could stand the ordeal of continued firing for
this period.

The accompanying table shows the relative number
of 4, 5, and 6-inoh rapid and slow-fire guns on the ships
that are built or approaching completion in our navy.

The table shows we have a total of 318 rapid-fire guns
against 68 of the slow-fire type. The 6-inch slow-firers
are to be found On gunboats, such as the "Yorktown,"

Eapid-flre.

Slow-flre.

6-inch.

5-inch.

4-inch.

6-inch.

60

'is'

78

38

a

74
114

6
10
12
16
82

46
82

126

68

and cruisers, such as the "Philadelphia" and "Balti-
more," that were built before the era of heavy rapid-
fire weapon, and have some of them been continu-
ously in commission for several years. The policy of
the department is to replace these weapons with rapid-
firers the first time that the exigencies of the service
permits the ships to return to the navy yards. The 6-
inch slow-firers on the "Texas" and on the three bat-
tleships of the "Indiana" type are now being replaced
with rapid-firers, and it is probable that within the
next twelve months the last slow-fire gun will have dis-
appeared from the United States Navy.

• — ^ i m » ^

The Current Supplement.

The current Supplement, 1186, contains a number
of papers of remarkable interest. "The Congo Rail-
road "is an illustrated article accompanied by a map
which gives a detailed account of this great engineer
ing work in the heart of Africa. "High Explosives
and Smokeless Powder," by Hudson Maxim, is a very
important paper by the great explosive expert. It is a
paper which will be read with interest by all who are
in any way interested in the ordnance of both the
army and navy. The attention of our readers is call-
ed to the short notes which are given each week and
which are also scattered through the paper. In the
present number there are twenty-seven notes on a large
variety of subjects. "Bull Fighting" is an article il-
lustrated by engravings made from actual photographs
in the bull-fighting ring. "Drinking Water at Camp
Thomas" is a report of a sanitary engineer on the con-
dition of Camp Thomas, Chickamauga, Ga. " The Sig-
nificance of the Garment," by Alice C. Fletcher, is a
paper read before the last meeting of the Association for
the Advancement of Science. "Liquid Air" is a lecture
delivered by Prof. G. F. Barker, of the University of
Pennsylvania. This lecture has been revised by the
author. The first installment is published in this
week's issue of the Supplement.

Contents.

(Illustrated articles are marked with 'an asterisk.)

Ammunition hoist* 203

Books, new, etc 205

Business and personal 205

Calendar, Chinese 200

Canal, the Lake Erie and Ohio

River ship ,\ 195

Carnations, green 198

Disinfectant, soap as a 195

Dock, floating, the largest in the

world* 196

Egyptians, a new light upon the*200
Engineers, out new possessions

as a field for 194

Inventions, index of 205

Inventions, recently patented.. . 204
Locomotives, draught attach-
ment for* 196

Motor, tide* 196

Mount Yllimani ascended 195

Navy Department, forethought
in the 194

Notes andreceipts,miscellaneous 199
Organ pipes and reed wind musi-
cal instruments 199

Preservatives, food, dangers at-
tending so-called 194

Rainbow, a multiple 199

Rapid-fire guns and ammunition
supply in the United States

Navy* 203

Railroad, Transsiberian*... ..193, 201

Red Cross, founder of the 200

Science notes 198

Shed, collapse of a pier* 197

Supplement, the current 204

Telepuone, a Brazilian Indian.. 202
Trade, South American, obsta-
cles to 194
Transsiberian Railroad, the*193, 201

Valve, a testing* 198

Varnish, negative 198

Vesuvius inactive eruption 198

RECENTLY PATENTED INVENTIONS.
mechanical Devices.

MOTOR CARRIAGE.— Victor Etienne Pretot,
Paris, France, has patented a motor carriage which he
calls a fore-carriage. It is designed to be used in con-
nection with any ordinary carriage in the same manner
as horses. It consists of a very compact motor, operated
by petroleum, and connected with the axle by an inge-
nious arrangement of differential gearing by which any
desired speed and power may be applied. The mechan-
ism for stopping, starting, and backing is simple and
convenient.

TREAD-SANDING MACHINE. — George A. En-
sign", Defiance, O. This invention relates to machines
for truing and smoothing the treacis of wooden vehicle
wheels, and it is the object to provide a simple and du-
rable machine for this purpose, which will enable the
operator to perfectly smooth the tread of a wheel and
render its peripheral surface square to the plane of the
wheel. It consists principally of oppositely arranged
abrading surfaces between which the tread to be acted
upon- is adapted to pass, and a revoluble standard for
supporting and carrying the vehicle wheel and holding
it between the two abrading surfaces.

JACK.— John S. Schlosser, Wadsworth, 111. This
jack is simple and durable in construction, easily ap-
plied, and conveniently manipulated. It is more espe-
cially designed for raising the felly from the spoke of the
wheel to permit the insertion of a washer on the tenon
of the spoke to insure a firm joint and to prevent the
wheel from rattling. It is provided with a support
adapted to be clamped to the spoke of the wheel. The
support comprises a U-shaped member formed with sets
of steps, the clamping member having a cam surface
and pivot pins for engaging the steps. The jack is so
simple in construction that it is not liable to get out of
<-\ t der and can be readily applied to any sized wheel for
the purpose mentioned.

HAND DRILL.— James McSweeny. Pittsfield, Mass.
This invention is an appliance for regulating the feed of
drilling apparatus, and is designed especially for hand
drills. The drill spindle is threaded and carries a nut pro-
vided with a head by which the nut may be manually
turned to hand feed the drill. Supported rigidly on the

framing of the drill is a clamping device, by which the nut
may be rendered fast with the frame, and, consequently,
stationary with reference to thedrill spindle. Then, as the
spindle turns, thedrill is fed with mechanical regularity
by the action of the nut on the threads of the spindle.
The several parts have such peculiar construction and
are so combined that the device may be manipulated
with ease and certainty.

VEHICLE- WHEEL. — Joseph Blais, Sherbrooke,
Can. This invention relates to a vehicle- wheel, and has
for its object means for tightening the tires on the rims
of wheels. For this purpose a wheel with a double set
of converging spokes is employed, by a novel mechan-
ism. The inner ends of the spokes are moved toward
and from each other, thereby increasing the diameter of
the wheel at the nm.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHER FOR PAS-
SENGER COACHES.— Mahlon Monroe Williams,
Rico, Col. This invention provides a new fire extin-
guishing apparatus especially designed for use on pas-
senger coaches. It is so arranged as to automatically
extinguish the fire in the heaters, blow out the light in
the lamps, or shut off the gas in the gas burners in case
of a wreck or other accident, in order to prevent the
coach from being set on fire. It includes a reservoir
for compressed air for use in blowing out the lights and
for forcing water into the fire boxes of the heaters, or
shuts off the gas supply in case gas is used for illuminat-
ing purposes. Various means are provided for the auto-
matic operation of the device in an emergency.

MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING WELDLESS
CHAINS.— Joseph Mayers Davis, Glasgow, Scotland.
This invention relates to a machine for the manufacture
of weldless chains having open or unstayed links, with
or without thickened ends, from a bar of cruciform sec-
tion by a consecutive series of cold punchings and other
operations. The bar of cruciform section is transferred
into a series of unchained unstayed links, by being
passed once through a machine actuating three sets of
punches arranged to act at consecutive points. ■ After
the punching operation, which constitutes the initial
stage of the manufacture, means are provided for bring-
ing the links to a round section by stamping between
dies and being compressed laterally to the desired form
and dimensions.

ROCK-BREAKER AND ORE-CRUSHER.-Fran-
cis H. Cook, Spokane, Wash. This new rock-breaker
belongs to the class of machines for crushing ores in
which an oscillating jaw is aranged opposite to the fixed
jaw, the same forming two sides of a hopper. The
movable jaw is actuated by an eccentric shaft. Adjust-
able crushing rolls are also provided to reduce the rock
or ore to a fine state of division. The simplicity of the
construction permits of a ready examinetion and clean-
ing of the parts.

APPARATUS FOR MIXING TEA.— In the old form
of machine for this purpose, it has been usual to dis-
charge the contents of the mixer through the charging
aperture in the side of the drum into a receptacle below.
To cause the contents to run out entirely, the drum is
turned backward and forward several times to completely
empty it. Mr. C. H. Bartlett, Bristol, England, has
patented a mixer in which these difliculties are avoided,
and in which the teas are more thoroughly mixed.
The mixing drum has a central discharge aperture and a
chute connected therewith. After the mixing is done,
the mixed tea is carried upward by the rotation of the
drum and discharged upon the chute, through which it
flows out of the machine.

Railway Appliances.

CONDENSING LOCOMOTIVE.— Two patents have
been recently issued to Thomas J. Murray, of Butte,
Mont., for a compound locomotive, which condenses the
exhaust steam, heats the feed water, and in which the fuel
is kept dry. This locomotive is capable of making a
very long run, owing to the economy gained in both
water and fuel. The entire locomotive is housed to pre-
vent waste of heat and to protect it against snow, rain,
and dust. The parts of the main frame which slide one
upon the other are provided with ball bearings. The
forward truck carries the cylinders. The boiler has a
closed fire box, and the air for supporting the fire after
being heated is drawn through the burning fuel by an
exhaust fan in the smoke box. The exhaust steam is
delivered to a surface condenser in which it is condensed
and returned to the water tanks. The feed water is
heated to a very high temperature and admitted to the
boiler by gravity after the pressure in the heater has
been equalized by the admission of steam from the

boiler. The engine has many novel features, which
need to be explained at length to be clearly under-
stood.

NUT-LOCK.-John R. Horn, Camden, Ark, This
spring nut-lock device is intended to automatically take
up the slack caused by wear of the angle or fish plates
and bolts and at the same time positively lock the nut
and absolutely prevent backward rotation of the nut
when in use, while at the same time it can be easily ap-
plied and removed. The device consists of a steel bar
or rod, having approximately the form of the numeral
8, with its ends both free and bent outward from the
plane of the body portion of such device, one of the
ends being beveled on its inner side.

Agricultural.

VINE-TRIMMER.— George Norman Jeune, Deer

Wood, Minn. This new vine-trimmer is a machine es-
pecially designed for conveniently trimming strawberry
or other vines or plants running close to the ground. It
is arranged in a very simple manner to permit the user
to conveniently move it over a field to cut up rooted as
well as exposed vines. It comprises a shear or blade
having a beveled, chiseled edge on the inclined forward
end. The revoluble cutter is secured on one face of the
shear or blade, and is operated in conjunction with the
j cutting edge at the top of the blade. Motion is trans-
j mitted to it from a wheel which is adapted to travel on
! the ground. The chiseled edge cuts the rooted vines,
l while the other vines are cut by the revolving cutter.

j Hi see II a ii eo us.

! MUTE CLAVIER. -Louis Illmer, Jr., Washington,
D. C This invention is an improvement in mute cla-
viers for piano practice for use in studying the piano.
It consists of an exercising apparatus provided with
keys and with a rocking sounding device having a de-
tent which moves into engagement with the key when

, the latter is depressed. Means are provided whereby if

' one key is depressed too far before the previously de-
pressed key is released, the first key will be held by a
detent, and if a key be depressed and then released be-
fore a second key is depressed, the action will, as the

1 first key moves upward, strike a bell and indicate to the

) 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

September 24, 1898.]

Sf titntxiu %mtxmu.

205

pupil his mistake. Therefore, the instrument indicates
positively to the pupil whether the second key is de-
pressed too fast or too slow with respect to the release
of the first key, and enables the pupil to determine with
accuracy whether the touch is properly cultivated.

ACCOUNT KEEPING BOOK.— Thomas G. Knight,
New York City. This invention provides a new and im-
proved account- keeping book designed for use as a col-
lection account book and the like to enable the book-
keeper to see at a glance the standing of a customer. It
consists of an account-keeping book provided with a
plurality of leaves ruled for forming an account of a
given period and divided into a column for names of the
customers and successive equal monthly divisions, sub-
divided for keeping account of the new business for the
month, the total balance, and for remarks, each leaf be-
ing provided with transverse perforations to permit a
portion of it to be torn out and with apertures at each
end and with fasteners for attaching the removed portion
to another page.

TABLE AND DRAPERY-HOLDER. — Robert S.
Ganoung, Seneca Falls, N. Y. This invention relates
particularly to devices adapted for connection with a
table for supporting a canopy of drapery over the same,
while tbe table is supporting a burial casket, and the
object is to provide a device of this character which may
be easily adjustable to height and also to so construct it
that its several parts are detachable, so that the whole
device, with the table legs, may be packed in the table
top. In brief, the invention consists in a table adapted
to support a burial casket, of a sleeve attached to the
back rail of the tabte adapted to receive an adjustable
rod, the rod being flattened on one side to encage a
flattened portion of the sleeve. A standard is adjusta-
ble vertically with relation to the sleeve, and consists of
telescopic sections and a bracket on the upper section of
the standard. The apparatus may be adjusted to any
height.

FIREPROOF PARTITION. — Francis Omeis, of
Charleston, S. C, has secured a patent for a novel fire-
proof partition or wall, in which the studding or beams
are formed of two metal plates curved and united to
each other by rivets joining tbe central portion of the
convex sides. When this beam is used as studding, it is
secured at the top and bottom by angle plates. When a
solid partition is built, wires extend through holes in tbe
central part of the studding. Upon these wires are se-
cured plaster-supporting webs of woven wire, or stamped
sheet metal, and 10 this skeleton wall is applied plaster,
which is built out until it covers the edges of the stud-
ding. When a thick, hollow wall is to be built, the
wires are secured to the edges of the studding and a
plaster support and plaster is applied in the same way as
in the case of a lathed wall.

GRAIN-SEPARATING MACHINE.-C. E. Culver,
Cashton. Wis. By means of this machine, oats and
other light seed and dn&t are separated from wheat
rapidly and thoroughly, and the different kinds of seeds
and tae dnst are discharged separately. The grain is
delivered to a revolving drum having small pockets in
its interior. As the drum slowly revolves, the grain is
packed into the pockets by flexible strips, and a rotary
brush brushes back the oats and dust. The grain in the
pockets is carried upward by the cylinder, and the
lighter materials, owing to the inclination of the cylin-
der, is made to discharge at the front while tbe grain is
deposited on an inclined table down which it rolls. The
small panicles and seeds and the broken grain pass
through perforations in the table and are delivered to
one conveyer, while the grains of wheat are delivered to
another conveyer.

DRY-KILN. — J. Guerrero and J. Ungemach,
Buenos Ayres, Argentina, have patented a dry-kiln, for
quickly and thoroughly drying various substances. It is
provided with inner and outer walls, and a furnace of
novel construction for supplying the necessary heat. It
has also an efficient system of ventilation by which the
moisture expelled from the articles being dried is car-
ried away. This drier can be nsed for many different
purposes, but it is especially designed for the preparation
of hung beef.

^Business and ^Personal.

The charge for insertion under this head is One Dollar a
Ivne for each insertion ; about eioht words to a line.
Advertisements must be received at publication office
as early as Thursday morning to appear in the follow-
ing week's issue.

Designs.

CARTON FILLER.— Robert J. Barklet, Chanute,
Kans. The design consists in a filler presenting the
appearance of a series of panels equally spaced from
each other. The panels extend transversely of two
longitudinal members which are disposed in proximity
to each other and extend across the central portions of
the first- mentioned panels, whereby narrow elongated
openings appear between the members extending length-
wise between the adjacent panels'.

Note.— Copies of any of these patents will be furn-
ished by Munn & Co. for 10 cents each. Please send
the name of the patentee, title of the invention, and date
of this paper.

NEW BOOKS, ETC.

A Pocket Book for Mechanical En-
gineers. By David Allan Dow.
With over 1000 illustrations. London,
Bombay and New York: Longmans,
Green & Company. 1898. Pp. 740.
Price $2.50.
We learn from the preface that the preparation of the
work has occupied the whole of the author's spare time
during the past five years, and that he has also had the
services of several assistants in the calculation of the
tables and in tbe preparation of their illustrations, and
we judge, from a cursory examination of the boob, that
the time has been well spent. It is a mine of valuable
information presented in a terse form, easily understood
by engineers. There are already a large number of en-
gineers 1 pocket books, but there always seems to be
room for one more, as engineering practice moves so
rapidly. We could not undertake to give an outline of
the contents in the limited space at our disposal, but, in
brief, it may be stated, it includes mathematics, calcula-
tions and civil and mechanical engineering, with special
attention to steam, pneumatic, and hydraulic engineering.
The book is beautifully printed and the type is aston-
ishingly clear. Illustrations are freely scattered through
the book.

Marine Iron Works. Chicago. Catalogue free.

For logging engines. J. S. Mundy, Newark, N. J.

" U. S." Metal Polish. Indianapolis. Samples free.

Gasoline Brazing Forge, Turner Brass Works. Chicago.

Yankee Notions. Waterbury Button Co., Waterb'y, Ct.

Handle & Spoke Mchy. Ober Lathe Co. .Chagrin Falls, O.

FERRACUTE Machine Co., Bridgeton, N. J. Full
line of Presses, Dies and other Sheet Metal Machinery.

Inventions developed and perfected. Designing and
machine work. Garvin Machine Co., 141 Varick St., N. Y.

The celebrated " Hornsby-Akroyd " Patent Safety Oil
Engine is built by the De La Vergne Refrigerating Ma-
chine Company. Foe t of East 13Sth Street, New York.

The best book for electricians and beginners in elec-
tricity is " Experimental Science," by Geo. M. Hopkins.
By mail, ?4. Munn & Co., publishers, 361 Broadway, N. Y.
Michigan Military Academy,
Orchard Lake Michigan.
Twenty-first year. Prepares for leading Universities.
Graduates are now in Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cor-
nell, and University of Michigan. New gymnasium,
50 x 100 feet. Address Colonel Rogers, Supt.

To Manufacturers.— Owning lands and buildings which
are admirably adapted to manufacturing purposes situ-
ated in the great coal, iron, and timber belt of the Cen-
tral South, I desire immediate correspondence with
parties owning machinery, especially wood working
machinery, who contemplate removing their business
South. lam prepared to offer favorable opportunities
to such. I also wish correspondence with those desiring
to procure valuable iron land in the same section.

Address Lock Box 204, Jonesboro, Tenn.
What to See in the Mountains on the
Low Rates.

*That the mountain regions of northern New Hamp-
shire are famous is evidenced by the thousands of
visitors who annually seek the section for a season of
recreation and rest. It matters not to what portion of
the mountain region you go, for you will never be dis-
satisfied, as the variety and extent of scenic attractions
is unlimited and your expectations, no matter how am-
bitious, are more than fulfilled.

Several hundred square miles of mountain peaks
comprise the White Mountain region, and of the scores
of resorts located in its midst space permits mention of
but a few of the largest.

Many consider the vicinity of Dixville Notch the
most beautiful part of the White Hills. The view of
the surrounding territory is very beautiful, for lakes,
mountains, brooks, and ravines are everywhere around,
making an interesting landscape. In the Franconia
region one finds many odd though beautiful attractions.
There the Old Man of the Mountain stands guard over
a galaxy of wild though particularly impressive bits of
nature work. There is Cannon Mountain and Eagle
Cliffs and Mt. Lafayette and Agassiz and Cleveland,
while a short way off is Cherry Mountain, The Twins,
and the Presidential Range, while natural curiosities
like The Basin, The Flume, Tbe Pool, and Echo Lake
and Profile Lake are well worth visiting. Then, of
course, all who go to the mountains want to visit the
wonderland of New England, as that famous mountain
pass, Crawford's Notch, is termed. Everything there
is in its primeval state, and charming cascades, rush-
ing forest stream and gigantic mountains make it the
ideal place for the tourist, as well as the one seeking
rest.

There are very many other sections of the White
Mountains equally attractive as pleasure resorts, and at
any of them you will find excellent accommodations,
for the mountain hotels are every one of them
models.

Beginning September 10 and continuing until about
the 8th of October, the Boston & Maine Railroad will
place on sale at many of its lending stations reduced
rate tickets to all points in the mountains. The choice
of several routes will be allowed, and for information
apply to any station ticket office. Send to the General
Passenger Department, Boston & Maine Railroad, Bos-
ton, for the book "What to See in the White Moun-
tains."'

VW Send for new and complete catalogue of Scientific
and other Books for sale by Munn & Co., 361 Broadway
New York. Free on application.

HINTS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Names and Address must accompany all letters
or no attention will be paid thereto. This is for oui
information and not for publication.

References to former articles or answers should
give date of paper and page or number of question.

Inquiries not answered in reasonable time should
he repeated : correspondents will bear in mind that
some answers require not a little research, and.

though we endeavor to reply to all eithf
or in this department, each must take his

to all either by letter

turn,

Bu vers wishing to purchase any article not advertised

in our columns will be furnished with addressee of

houses manufacturing or carrying the same.
Special Written Information on matters of

personal rather than general interest cannot be

expected without remuneration.
Scientific American Supplements referred

to may be had at the office. Price 10 cents each.
Books referred to promptly supplied on receipt of

price.
Minerals sent for examination should be distinctly

marked or labeled.

(7494) C. S. D. asks (1) for a formula for

coating the back of a photographic dry plate to avoid
halation. A. Powdered "curat sienna is used, mixed with
gum and water. See Scientific American Supple-
ment, No. 1030. 2. Will this coating have to be re-
moved before development? (I use Eikonogen developer.)
If so. how ? A. Yes; with a tuft of cotton or sporge.

(7495) S. M. R. says : Please answer

through inquiry column the following: Formula for glue
or paste which will adhere firmly, like the adhesive sub-
stance on envelops, at once it is applied. A. Postage
stamp mucilage is said to be made as follows : Gum dex-
trine, 2 partes water, 4 parte; acetic aoid, 1 part. Dis-

solve with the aid of heat and add one part of ninety per
cent alcohol.

(7496) J. B. asks: Could you tell me

how to make the cement metal sign engravers use to fill
in the letters with after they are cut? A. Melt together
in a clean iron pot 2 parts each of best asphaltum and
gutta percha; stir well together, and then add 1 part of
gum shellac in fine powder. It may be used hot and
mixed with smalt, vermilion or other pigment, if desired.

(7497) W. 'D. C. asks: Will water in

small lakes, ponds, or large reservoirs evaporate when
the humidity is at a high per cent as fast as at a low per
cent, the thermometer and wind being equal in both
instances ? A. The term * l humidity," as popularly used,
means the relative humidity or degree of humidity, as
compared with full saturation of the air with moisture,
and not the absolute quantity of water vapor in a cubic
foot of air. When the relative humidity is ICO per cent,
the air contains all the water vapor it can hold. It can
take no more, and water in ponds, etc., or in clothes
hung upon a line, where humidity is 100, cannot evapor-
ate at all. Under a high humidity, evaporation is slow;
under a low humidity, it is rapid, other conditions being
equal. Every housewife knows that on some days water
does not boil away out of her kettles, and on other days
it disappears rapidly. On the former humidity is high,
on the latter it is low and the air is dry.

(7498) C. B. asks: 1. Can same size wire
be used to wind motor of Supplement, No. 641, for a
dynamo, and if the same circuit is used? A. There is
no difference in the winding of a machine to use it as a
dynamo or as a motor. 2. Will a soft iron solid ring do
for the armature ? I use cast iron fields. A. You will
have about one-half as much power with cast iron as
with wrought iron. The design is made for wrought
iron.

(7499) F. G. asks whether the direct or
alternating current should be used in the electric arc
furnace illustrated and described in a late issue of the
Supplement. A. Either current may be used.

(7500) W. R. A. says : 1. Can you tell

me what photographers use to obtain the high gloss
which some photos have? It seems to be a thin coating
of some kind that is put on over the picture that gives
it the appearance of glass. A. Use very clean plates and
rather larger than the prints to be enameled. Wipe them
well, rub them with talc, and remove the excess with a
soft brush passed lightly over the surface. In a dish,
half filled with ordinary water, immerse the photographs
and allow them to soak. This being done, coat one of
the talced plates with enameling collodion in the
ordinary way, agitate to cause the ether to evaporate,
and when the film has set— that is to say, in a few
seconds —steep this plate, the collodionized surface up,
in a second dish containing pure water. Now take one
of the prints in the first dish and apply the printed side
to the collodion, remove the plate from the dish, keeping
the print in its place with the finger of the left hand,
and remove the air bubbles by lightly rubbing the back
of th. 1 photograph with the forefinger of the right hand.
Care has been taken beforehand to prepare some very
pure starch paste, passed through a cloth, and some thin
cardboards, or simply thick paper, the size of the plates
used. The air bubbles having completely disappeared,
and the perfect adherence of the print ascertained, dry
with bibulous paper, and spread over the prepared card-
board on paper a coating of the collodion by means of a
fiat brush. Apply this sheet on the print, pass the finger
over it to obtain complete adhereocc, and give it twenty-
four hours to dry. At the expiration of this time, cut with
a penknife the cardboard or paper ven with the print,
and detach by one corner. If the plate has been well
cleaned, the print will come off itself. We get in this
manner a very brilliant surface, and as soiid as that ob-
tained by use of gelatine, which, as it is seen, is entirely
done away with in this process. The prints are after-
ward mounted on thick cardboard in the usual way. It
is possible, by mixing with the collodion some methyl
blue, dissolved in alcohol (a few drops are sufficient), to
obtain moonlight effects, especially if a rather strong
negative has been used. For sunsets, make use of an
alcoholic solution in coccinine. Wet gelatine prints are
simply rolled down on clean ferrotype plates which have
been previously rubbed over with a cloth having a very
minute quantity of beeswax rubbed over it, the beeswax
being almost entirely removed from the ferrotype plates
by means of a clean cloth. The prints will come off
readily when dry. 2. Also is there such a thing as liquid
celluloid, and is it proof against heat and cold— that is,
will either of them cause it to crack ? I have taken
your paper for four years, and think it is the best in the
world. A. There is a celluloid varnish called " Roxy-
line Enamel, 11 sold by dealers in photographic mate-
rials, which is practicilly liquefied celluloid. Tempera-
ture will have little effect on it.

(7501) M I. M. asks for the composition
for birdlime. A. Boil the middle bark of tbe holly,
gathered in June or July, for six or eight hours in water,
until it becomes tender ; then drain off the water and
place it in a pit under ground, in layers with fern, and
surround it with stones. Leave it to ferment for two or
three weeks, until it forms a sort of mucilage, which
must be pounded in a mortar, into a mass, and well
rubbed between the hands, in running water, until all
the refuse is worked out ; then place it in an earthen
vessel and leave it for four or five days to ferment and
purify itself. Remarks: Birdlime may also be made
from mistletoe berries, the bark of the wayfaring tree,
and other vegetables by a similar process. Should any
of it stick to the hands, it may be removed by means of
a little oil of lemon bottoms or turpentine. Use.— To
rub over twigs to catch birds or small animals. It is
said to be discutient when applied externally.

INDEX OF INVENTIONS

For which Letters Patent of the

United States were Granted

SEPTEMBER 13, 1898*

AND EACH BEARING THAT DATE.

LSee note at end of list about copies of these patents.]

TO INVENTORS.

An experience of fifty years, and the preparation
of more than one hundred thousand applications
for patents at home and abroad, enable us to understand
the laws and practice on both continents, and to possess
unequaled facilities for procuring patents everywhere
A synopsis of the patent laws of the United States and
all foreign countries may be had on application, and per-
sons contemplating the securing of patents, either at
home or abroad, are invited- to write to this office for
prices, which are low, in accordance with the times and
our extensive facilities for conducting the busingss,
Address MUNN & CO., office Scientific American,
361 Broadway. New York.

Abrading material, roll of , T. E. Keavy 610,761

Aerial ship, T. J. Brown 610,843

Air compressor, tide water, D. Becker 610,790

A compressors, air inlet valve f or, J . G. Ley-

ner 610,608

Alarm. See Burglar alarm.

Back pedaling brake, J. Harrington 610,649

Back pedaling brake, L. L. Williams 610,696

Balcony, portable, R- Bahnsen 610,517

Baling press, W. H.Young 610,731

Bar piling mechanism, L. A. Treat 610,749

Barrel press, A. J. Underhill,2d 610,592

Barrels to stocks, means for detachably uniting,

W. Mason 610,765

Basket, folding, M. Bach 610,787

Basket for catching sewing from machines, M.

C. Arrick 610,854

Bath trap, W.H.Cloud 610,800

Battery. See Stamp battery.

Bedstead commode attachment, E. Hummel 610,863

Bedstead, metallic, K. Zambusky 610,698

Bending machine, G. Guild 610,585

Bi cycle, J. F. Foster 610,582

Bicycle air brake, J- H. Bowman 610,796

Bicycle bundle strap, L. Levi 610,847

Bicycle handle bar, C. J. Dieterich 610,736

Bicycle handle bar, H. N. Ridgway 610,748

Bicycle hanger, J. L. Martin 610,656

Bicycle saddle. W. S. Smith 610.614

Bicycle support, G. Hipwood 610,536

Bicycle wheel, G. Hayes 610,743

Bit. See Overcheck bit.

Boat, life, F. N. Lyons 610,547

Boiler. See Steam boiler.

Boiler cleaner, J. J . Crall 610,703

Bolster spring, J. F. Bohler 610,841

Bolt, J. H. Williams 610.638

Bone cutter, green, H. A. Hannum 610,531

Bottle, J. Van Develde 610,695

Bottle, lock, Betjemann &Candland 610,794

Bottle, non-reflllable, L. deNucci 610,874

Bottle stopper, C, De Quillfeldt 610,721

Bottle stopper guard, J. A. Hensler 610.5.35

Bottles, jars, etc., cap for. Long & Jones 610f715

Box. See Journal box. Paper box.
Brake. See Back pedaling brake. Bicycle air
brake. Car brake. Vehicle brake. Warp
beam brake.

Bridge, draw, E. C. Akers 610.575

Bronze, crystal aluminum, J. T. Cupper KlOMn

Brush or dauber, blacking. J. C. Wickers 610 ,7 50

Buckle, suspender, C. W. Latimer 610.545

Buffing machine, T. E. Keavy 610,759

Buffing machine buffer, shoe or other, T. E.

Keavy 610,758, 610,760

Buffing pad, T. E. Keavy 610.'!62

Burglar alarm, J. W. Parrtsh 610,826

Burning pulverulent fuel, apparatus for, C. A.

Freitag 610,845

Button, C. Radcliffe 610,662

Button machine alarm device, H. T. Jenkins 610.876

Buttonhole band, G. Boxley 610,579

Camera, kinetograpbic, A. F. Parnaland 610,560

Camphor, refining, W. Schmidt 610.664

Can closure, milk, E. M. Peacock ,. 610,720

Can spout, K. Dreyer 610,737

Canal lock, E. A. Manny... 610,548

Candelabrum, H. b\ Nehr 610,821

Cane sling, J. Mallon 610,816

Car brake mechanism, railway, J. H.Graham 610,676

Car coupling, R. C. Beckett 610,519

Car coupling, A. F. Kuhlmann 610,814

Car coupling, A. M. Larue 610,714

Car coupling, W. J. Trevessick 610,666

Car fender, M. Fernandez (reissue) 11.692

Car fender, W. T. Watson 610, 719

Car seat, W. M. Norcross 610,719

Car steering handle, motor, M. H. Smith 610,871

Cars, guard rail for open tramway, J. G. McLaugh-
lin 610,688

Card cutting machine, H. P. Feister 610,526

Carding machine feeding mechanism, T. R. Mars-
den 610,655

Carpet and weather strip, T. A. Long 610,864

Carpet fabric, two-ply ingrain, h. Hardwick 610.742

Carpet sweeper, B. Haskell 610,603

Carriage cover, O. B. Fobes 610,647

Carrier or holder, J. Quigley 610,870

Carriage spring, S. R. Bailey 610,788

Cartridge shelf, C. E. Overbaugh 610,600

Casket, metallic, Hiser & Lupfer 610,537

Caster, S. Gluck 610.S0U

Celluloid, etc., die for making frames from sheets

of, H. E.Miller 610.630

Chain, detachable link, G. W. Fox 610,583

Chain, drive. F. W. Wood 610,151

Cigar box attachment, J. R. Grinsfelder 610,807

Cigar rolling machine, .1. Bunn 610,754

Cigarette machine, D.J. Campbell 610,^5

Cleaner. See Boiler cleaner.

Clock, electric, Hope-Jones & Bowell 610.*9

Clock, repeating, A. Bannatyne 610, ICIi

Clothes, etc., on lines, device for hanging, G. W.

Price 610.85''

Clutch for elevators, etc., self -locking, C. B. Cox. 610.K"1

Coffee pot attachment, A. 1. Sandbo 610.8i>>

Colander, E. A. Beach 610;769

Collar and cuff turner and edge polisher, R. N.

Martz 610,657

Collar and hame and fastening therefor, C. B.

Berry 6+0.792

Commutator brush holder, W. K. Bassford Jr.... 610,620

Concentrator, J. Mait 610,764

Coop, folding chicken, Robinson & Stelzer 610.618

Cotton distributer and cleaner, seed. F. Walla 610.667

Corn husker, 1. Korn 610.713

Corkscrew, pocket, E. Hammesfahr 640,53*

Coupling. See Car coupling. Thill coupling. Trip
coupling.

Crushing machine, roller, W. J. Dyer 610,802

Cultivator, G.Lewis 610.546

Curtain fixture, A. Assorati 610,732

Cusp'idorand attachment, A. M. McQuarrie 61* ,556

Cutter. See Bone cutter.

Cycle race registering apparatus, A. L. Baird 610.639

Cycle holder and lock, combined, F. H. Richards. 610,722

Dehorning clipper, J. & C. E. Arms 610,669

Dental pliers, E. H. Angle 610.^40

Door fastener, L. J. Gamble 610,024

Door hanger. W. S. Boyer 610,598

Draught apparatus, C. E. Berry 610,793

Dredge for mining purposes, hydraulic, G. F. Kib-

ling 610,763

Drier, V. D. Anderson 610,516

Drilling machine, hand. B. F. Smith 610,773

Dye and making same, black, G. Kalischer 610.541

Easel, artist's, A. K. Cross 610.644

Educational appliance, A. W. Baldwin 610,577

Electric motors, apparatus for starting and con-
trolling, T. W. Kloman 610.712

Electrical machine brush, J. W. Dickey 610,705

Elevator safety attachment. G. E. & C. L. Cooke.. 610,642

Embroidery hoop, W. C. Maynard 610,658

End gate for wagons, dumping, W. S. Witter 610,572

Engine. See Gas engine. Rotary engine.

Exercising device, VV. M. Marshall 610,716

Fabric. See Carpet fabric.

Fan, ventilating, M. Rolle 610,851, 610,852

Fanning device. H. De Tamble 610,601

Fencing, apparatus for applying stay wires to

wire, S. G. & VV. J. Mooney 610,819

Fender. See Car fender. Stirrup fender. Stove
fender.

Fifth wheel, I. Cornwell 610.643

Filter, F. Fischer 610.527

Filter frame, Aymer&Nevill 610,596

Fire escape, C. S. Ramos 610,562

Fire escape ladder, R. Schapler ... 610.692

Fire extinguisher, A. M, Ring 611.830

Fireproof curtain, rolling, W. R. Kinnear 610 543

Fireproof structure, W. R. Robinson 610,832, 610. 833

Fishing reel. A. W. Hazelrigg. 610.604

Pishing rod, J. W. Perkins 610.880

Flagstaff holder, J. Finnegan 610,738

Flat iron beater. J. D. Sullivan 610,836

Flooring and ceiling set combined, S. A. Thomp-
son ' 610,568

Flushing apparatus. P. Liebig 610,683

Food and preserving same, fermented milk, M.

L. Arakelian (reissue) 11.691

Fruit iar, L. K. Royer 610,8:i4

Funnel, automatic, C. Bonafede 610,521

Furnace. See Smelting furnace.

Furnace, G. Beesley 610.791

Furnace, R. L Walker 610,778

Game, H. G. Hellier 610,534

Game apparatus. F. W. Brennan 610,734

Garment, J. A. Scriven 616,564

(Continued on page 206)

1 1898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

206

Sftuuitik &mtUM.

[September 24, 1898.

"2^dpcrtieeinent&.

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received at Publication Office as early as Thursday
morning to appear in the following week's issue.

00D 01 mETRL WORKERS

without steam power can save
time and money by using our

SEND FOR CATALOGUES—

A — Wood-working Machinery.

B— Lathes, etc.

SENECA FALLS MFG. COMPACT.

695 Water St., Seneca Falls, N. Y.

AMERICAN PATENTS.— AN INTER-
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granted for the various subjects upon which petitions
have been filed from the beginning down to December
31. 18M. Contained In Scientific American Sup-
plement, No. 1002. Price 10 cents. To be had at
this office and from all newsdealers.

L D OWER& FOOT | SMAPERS, PLANERS DRILLS.
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** ■ ■■ fc O" 1 AND SUPPLIES. CATALOGUE. 7RE.L
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MACHINE DESIGN,

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fW Write for free S. A. Circular.

THE UNITED CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS,

F. W. Ewald, Gen. Mar. 164-168 Fifth Ave., N. Y.

WalwoiW
Solid
Die Plate

Standard

' Price IAst on application to
WALWORTH MFG. CO., 20 Oliver St., BOSTON, MASS.

HIGH GRADE W

OOD

ORKING

MACHINERY

Single Machines or Com-
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Any Class of Work.

Tour Correspondence is Solicited.

tZT' Illustrated Matter and Prices on

application.

J. A. FAY & CO.

10-30 John St., CINCINNATI, OHIO

QUEEN'S NEW

Automatic Lamp.

Its Six Points of Superiority :

1. It keeps in focus consta tly.

2. Kegulates and runs silently.

3. No attention required to help
it regulate. 1. The full crater
is projected. 5. The negative
carbon iB non-luminous. & The
adjustments are all outside.

|y Send for circular to
QUEEN & '

1011 Chestnut 8t.

EN & CO., Inc

Philadelphia

TRANSITS AND LEVELING INSTRUMENTS.

PLUMBERS' IRON LEVEL *%££""

»>l piping. Price 12.25. Size 12 Inch. For book on thele el

C. F. RICHARDSON & SON,
P. O. Box 977. ATHOL, MASS.. 17. 8. A.

BARN ES'

New Friction Disk Drill.

FOR LIGHT WORK.

Has thtss Qreat Advantages:
The speed can be instantly changed from to 1800
without stopping or shifting; belts. Power applied
can be graduated to drive, with equal safety, the
■mallest or largest drills within its rang*— a won-
derful economy in time and great saving in driB
breakage. Send for catalogue.

W.F.&JN0. BARNES CO.,
1999 Ruby St., - Rockford, 111,

DOR MAN'S
VULCANIZERS

are used all over the world.
Exclusive Manufacturers of Steam Ma-
chines for Rubber Stamps. We also make
Dry Heat Vulcanizers. Complete outfits
from $10 to $1,000. All Stamp and Stencil
Toolsand Supplies. Brass and Steel Dies
for all purposes. Seals, Engraving and
Die Sink-in* of all kinds. Established I860.
Printing Presse s, w ith complete outfits,
from $1 to $100. £p~ Send for Catalogues.

THE J. F. W. DORMAN CO
121 E. Fayette St.. Baltimore, Md.,

U. S. A,

14-inch Lathes

with extra large
Hollow Spindle.

Why not investi-
gate them ?
GODDABD MACHINE COMPANY,
25 Bigelow Street) Holyoke, Mass.

Every Coo! for every Use

A complete list of all the Tools made
for any and every purpose, all fully de-
scribed and accurately Illustrated will
be 'ound in the 1898 edition of MONT-
OOMERT <fc CO.'B

TOOL CATALOGUE.

It contains 510 closely printed paces
with index. Book 1b pocket size, 6*4 *
iH inches, with rounded edges and
stitched covers Sent free by mail on
receipt of 25 cents by

MONTGOMERY & CO.
195 FmltM Scrtet, New Y«rtu

(ias burners, automatic cut-on* for, P. C. Fol-

well 610,623

Gas compressor, R. Wright 610.573

Gas engine, Kelly & Kelcb 610,682

Gas for producing light and heat, utilizing hy-
drogen, Pratis &Maren«o 610,868

Gas generator, acetylene, M. F. McNelly 610,877

Gas motor, Pratis & Marengo 610,869

Gas, etc., process of and apparatus for making

hydrogen, Pratis & Marengo 610,867

Gate. See Railway crossing gate.

Gate, J. Ozenberger 610,661

Generator. See Gas generator.

Glass blowing machine, H. C. Scbrader 610,589

Glass cutting off or severing machine, 11. C.

Schrader 610,588

Glass, machine for and method of rolling wired,

E. Walsh, Jr 610.593

Glass, machine for rolling wire, C. C. Hartung 610,586

Grade delineator, J. Riddell 610,747

Grading machine, road, J. V. Maxey 610,550

Grate, W. Edgar 610.674

Grate, R. A.May 610,551

Grate, D. J. McKenzie 610,687

Grinding mill, J. F. Winchell 610.729

Guillotine for fowls, hand, J. H. Stevenson 610,591

Gun, cane, E. H. Ericson 610,675

Gun, single trigger double barrel, J. D. & W.

Thompson 610,569

Hammers, etc.. adjusting arrangement for spring

power, P. Holmberg 610,745

Hanger. See Bicycle banger. Door hanger.

Harrow, P. A. Schumacher 610.611

Harvester attachment, A. Davis 610.525

Hats, manufacture of felt, J. B. Harrison 610,627

Heater. See Flat iron heater. Tank heater.
Water heater.

-Heating apparatus, hot air, H. J. Piron 610,689

Heating apparatus, hot water, W. J. Miller 610,685

Hinge, gate, II. K. Nehr 610,820

Hinge, spring, J. K. & H. R. Clark 610,799

Hitch and brake, horse, A. H. tlarrymau 610,678

Hoe or mattock, W. Watkins 610,570

Hook and eye, E. A. Johnson 610,710

Hoop. See Embroidery hoop.

Horsepower, I* R. White 610,595

Horse rake, J. H. Randolph 610,663

Horseshoe calk grinding machine, M. A. Roas ... 610.725

Horseshoe bo ft tread, R. Evans 610.804

Hub, vehicle wheel spring, W. W. Lacey 610,607

Hub, wheel, E. M. Miers 610.189

Ice creeper, J. W. Brayman 610,842

Indicator. See Speed and distance indicator.
Station indicator.

Inhaler, J. M. Munyon 610,717

Insulating or other purposes, composition con-
taining casein for electric, P. H. Hansen 610,626

Jack. See Lifting jack.
Jar. See Fruit jar.

Journal box. V. WigeliuB 610.571

Kiln. See Malt kiln.

K nob fastening, door, G. R. Moore 610.631

Leather druBBing machinery, W. S. Shaw 610.613

Lifting jack, E. Huber 610,651

Lifting platform, vertically, J. Doldt 610,602

Lock. See Susta lock.

Lock, J. C. Coltrim 610,702

Lock, S. Houser 610,813

Lock mechanism, coin operated, Bodnar & Krep-

pel 610,578

Locomotive, C. A. Couch 610,856

Loom for weaving looped pile fabrics, G. H. Sar-
gent et al 610.563

Loom takeup mechanism, J. H. Northrop 610,('36

Looms, knife Bled motion for plush or velvet, J.

Killars 610,711

Lubricator, E. McCoy 610,634

Luggage carrying apparatus, N. Lernet 610,654

Magnetic separator, A. Monell 610,767

Mail bag catching, receiving and delivering appa-
ratus, N. Tingley 610,872

Mail distributing indicator, P. Brandell 610,621

Mail pouch, S. C. Reese 610,769

Malt kiln, J. F. Dornfeld 610,580

Manure gatherer and loader, J. Peterson 610,609

Marble or other stone, machine for cutting, Haw-
ley & Clot 610,810

Measuring machine, rope, Ely y Seale Hubbard.. 610.846

Mercerizing apparatus, A. Wyser 610,619

Metal cask forming apparatus, J. Harmatta 610,532

Milk tester, centrifugal, Hoyt & Feldmeier 610,650

Mill. See Grinding mill. Windmill.

Milling m achine tail stock, C. L. Grobmann 610.677

Mirror, mouth and throat, H. Bauscb 610,518

Mould. See Tile forming mould.

Money packet or holder. P. Schlemmer 610,727

Mop wringer. W. D. Martin 610,549

Motor. See Gas motor.

Mower, lawn, L. H. Slaght 610.694

Mowing machine, J. W. Cypher 610,671

Nut and bolt lock. J. G. Venable 610,777

Nut lock, HolmeB & Campbell 610,679

Nut lock, C. E. Laraway 610,815

Nut lock, W. H. NeBbitt 610,879

Nut lock, Pendley & Fincber 610," ~

Nut lock, W. C. White 610.

Oculists' trial frame, O. T. May 610.S17

Oiling nozzle closure, F. P. Noera 610,557

Oils or fats, apparatus for treating, C. G. Hen-
burn ".. 610,812

Oven, baker's, J. M. FiBcber 610,648

Overcheck bit, W. N. Carlisle 610,641

Pad. See Buffing pad.

Paper box, R. P. Brown 610.522

Pen. fountain, G. H. Means 610.818

Perforating machine, M. H, Merriam .. 610,746

Phonograph. T. A. Edison ulU,;06

Photographic background carrier, M. C. Harri-

man 610,808

Photographic pellicle and producing same, H.

Goodwin : 610,861

Pipe. See Smoking pipe. Tobacco pipe.

Pipe trimmer and cutter, J. L. Raney 610,829

Pipe wrench, O. V, RobertB GIOSU

Planter, J. D. Scbofleld 610,771

Planter and fertilizer distributer, cotton, B. J.

McLeskey 610,718

Planter, check row. Allen & WeBt 610,786

Planter, potato, W. H. Dannat 610,858

Platform. See Lifting platform.

Pneumatic dispatch tube, S. R. Gayton 610,528

PoBt driver, R. Heaton 610,811

Power. See Horsepower.

Precious metals from their ores, extraction of,

Sulmanft Teed 610,616

Press. See Baling press. Barrel press.

Pulley, C. Rocholl 610,724

Pulley and device for securing same to shafts, Z.

Auger 610.576

Pulpware, manufacture of, H. Tbame 610,567

Pump, hydraulic, C. F. Carty 610,798

Punching and shearing machine, Guild &

BertBch 610,584

Puzzle map game, A. G. Jacobs 610,628

Pyroxylin compound, J. H. Stevens 610,566, 610,615

Pyroxylin compound, Stevens & Axtell 610,728

Rail, guard, J. N. F. Siebs 610,665

Railway accidents, device for preventing, C.

Peters 610328

Railway crossing gate, automatic, H. Visser 610,837

Railway tank feeder, J, W. Skilton 610,772

Railway tie, metal, G. W. Cline 610,670

Railway tracks, apparatus for automatically re-
cording unevenness in, J. LivtBchak 610,848

Rake. See Horse rake.

Rasp punching machine, J. Turner 610.618

Razor, F. Sconabel 610,770

Recorder. See 1'ime recorder.
Reel. See Kishing reel.

Rein shield, F. L. Campbell 610,797

Releasing device, stock, S. J.Gover 610,806

Rod. See Fishing rod. Stair rod.

Rotary engine, C. B. Benson 610,700

Rotary engine, A. A. & E. WiBe 610.783

Sad iron heating device, F. W. Newton 610,823

Sand box, T. J. Stanton 610.590

Saab faBtener, F. V. Greene 610,739

SaBh holder, R. H. Fenn 610,805

Sash lock, J. L. BarneB 610,699

Sawmill carriage, N. Shaw 610,565

Scale and grip and lifting machine, coin con-
trolled weighing, G.G.S. Merry 610,766

Scarf pins, hat pins, etc., fastening device for, C.

E.True 610,617

Screw machine die head, W. Morgan 610,632

Seaming machine, sheet metal, E. Norton 610,558

Separator. See Magneticseparator.

Sheet metal tank. O. J. Ziegler 610,574

Shocking device, E. R. Powell 610,637

Sifter, dust tight ash, A. McKay 610.635

Signal. F. Dutcber 610.672

Skein bolder, silk. J. W. GleaBon 610.859

Skirt edge protector, dress. A. M. Weber 610,780.

Smelting furnace, ore, H. Kaemmerling 610.540

Smoking pi pe, J. Bigelow 610.597

Spectacle frame temple. S. E. Hirst 610,875

Speed and distance indicator and recorder for

velocipedes, etc., F. J. Wich 610,782

Spindles, apparatus for applying cop tubes to, E.

Herzog 610.605

Spinning machine twist indicator. Meats & Dean 610,552

Spout, dumping, M. Ryder 610,690

Spring. See Bolster spring. Carriage spring.

Stacker, pneumatic straw, Miller k Huber 610,659

Stair rod, E. E. Kuti 610,544

ARMSTRONG

.0 THREADING MACHINE

Can be attached to bench or post.
Designed for threading the
smaller sizes of pipe, iron or
brass, also bolts. Hastwo speeds,
one tor pipe ^ to 1 inch ; the
other for pipe IH to 2 inches,
inclusive. Uses the regular
Armstrong adjustable dies. Oth-
er attractive features. Send for
particulars. The Armstrong
Mfg. Co., 139 Centre Street,
New York. Bridgeport, Conn.

U/ofor Cnnnlv for your house and grounds
ITdlcr OUppiJ secured by using a

CALDWELL TANK AND TOWER.

Cypress Tanks. Steel Towers.

Get our lUuatraUd Catalogue on the subject.
W. E. Caldwell Co., 219 B. Main St., Louisville, Ky.

E. A. Harness Co., 67 Court St., New Haven, Conn- I
U. S. A. L. A. Holmes, Business Manager. Mfr&OI |

WILLIAMS'
SHAVING SOAPS.

Cash and Bundle Carriers

TTiBox NaiUngand Trimming Ma-

chines. Display Fixtures. Special Machinery, Patterns,
Punches and LHes, Inventions Perfected, Portable Exten-
sion Booths, Office Bailings, etc Illus. Catalogue Free.

Skinner Combination Lathe Chuck

Strong and true. Best reversible
jaws easily reversed. Made of
ste^l, case hardened. No strain
on the screwB. Upper Bection of
jaw ma; be left off and chuck
used for cutting stock.
Greater capacity than any other
chuck. Can be fitted with inter-
changeable jaws.

SKINNER CHUCK CO.

Church St., New Britain, Conn. I

ONLY ,

peal *y

SOLD EVERYWHERE.
Williams' Shaving Stick, 23 cts.
Genuine Yankee Sharing Soap, 10 eta.
Luxury Shaving Tablet, 29 cts.
Swiss Violet Shaving Cream, SO cts.
Jersey Cream (Toilet) Soap, 15 cts.

Williams' Shaving Soap (Barbers'). 6 Round Cakes,
ilb.^oc. Exquisite also for toilet. Trial cake for ac. stamp.

THE J . B .WILLIAMS CO.
GLASTONBURY, CONN

C0FFIELD

GAS AND
GASOLINE

has these points of superiority
over all its competitors : Cylin-
der cooled economically, perfect
and easy lubrication, speed ad-
j uster and stopping
device and Improved
igniter. Can be equip-,
ped with either the
u H ft " or gravity sys-
tems. Economical,
durable, reliable, safe.
Send for Catalog S. A-
W. P. Callahan & Co.
Dayton. 0. ( U. S. A.

ENGINE

FOR FINE WORK

No machine on the market can equal
our No. 00 Hand Bench Milling

Machine with two speed counter.
Spindles and bearings of hardened
and ground tool steel. Arranged to
take same size chucks and other
attachments as fit mouth of bench
latbe spindle. Traverse movement
of table 7 inches. Fuller descrip-
tion In free illustrated booklet.
The Pratt & Whiiney Co , llartf nrd, Conn

"KING"

Gasoline Engines

No Oil Cups. Exhausts
Under Water. Noiseless.

COMPLETE LAUNCHES, YACHTS,
and WORKING BOATS.

THE CHARLES B. KING CO., Detroit, Mich.
"WOLVERINE"

GAS & GASOLINE ENGINES

STATIONARY AND MARINE.

The *' Wolverine " Is the only reverB-
ible marine gas engine on the market.
It 1b the lightest engine for its power.
Requires no licensed engineer. Ab-
solutely safe. Manufactured by

WOLVERINE MOTOR WORKS,

12 Huron St., Grand Rapids, Mich.

This beats Wind, Steam, or Horse

Power. We oner the
WEBSTER 2*1 actual horse power

GAS ENGINE

For $150* leaa 10s discount for cash.
Built on interchangeable plan. Built
of best material. Made In lots of 100
tbereiore wecan make the price Box-
ed for shipment, weight 800 pounds.
Made for Gas or Gasoiine. Also Hori-
zontal Engines, 4 to 30 horse power.
%W Write for Special Catalogue.

WEBSTtfTMFG. CO.. 1074 West 16th St., CHICAGO
Eastern Branch, 38-D Dey Street, New York City.

MARIRgA 5Tat"i6NeRy

aimrr"

(«H-\M) I? MMDS (.'
GAS-ENGINE &
**- YA C H T -

Co..

BRANCH

t2EXCHANGC!

NEWORLEANS.LAT

%T04Ij

I0RSE POWER

1-2-3- CYLINDER

6E0.H.6ERE YACHT-LAUNCH WORKS.

fine ca.im ^J^mmi&tz^^*- MJCH

ope. LAUNCH ESJajr-pEwimE:

CuvU.&lC«uftfc&*u»Asi _ _

MONITOR GASOLINE VAPOR ENGINES

SENSITIVE LABORATORY BALANCE.

By N. Monroe Hopkins. TbiB "built-up" laboratory
balance will weigh up to one pound and will turn with a
quarter of a postage stamp. The balance can be made
by any amateur skilled in the use- of tools, and it will
work as well as a $125 balance. The article is accom-
panied by detailed working drawings showing various
stages of the work. This article is contained in Scien-
tific! American Supplement, No. 1184. Price 10
cents. For Bale by Munn & Co., 361 Broadway, New
York City, or any bookBeller or newsdealer.

HOISTING ENGINES

operating on GASOLINE.
JIlE»Tll,LATKorCK>UI>E
OIL. Both Friction and
Geared Hoist, from 10 to 50 ,
H. P., for Mines. Quar- *
vies* Docks, etc. Great
Saving over steam, especially
where wood, coal or water i
are scarce. Send for catalog.
Guaranteed fully. State size
wanted. Address Weber
Gas and Gasoline En-
gine Co.* 402 S. W. Boulevard Kansas City, Mo.

MIETZ & WEISS KEROSENE

ENGINE

il no
sale

known. Absolutely safe and
reliable. Runs with common
kerosene. Perfectly auto-
matic. Patented 1SB7 U. 8.
and European countries.

128-132 Mott St., NewYork

THE ELECTRIC HEATER.— A VALU-

able paper, with working drawings of various forms of
the electrical heaters, including electric soldering iron
electric pad for the sick, etc. 6 illustrations. Scien-
tific American Supplemknt 1 1 J 2. Price 10 centa.
For Bale by Munn;& Co. and all newsdealers.

GAS^GASOUNE ENGINES

WATER MOTORS

BACKUS WATER MOTOR CO . NEWARK N J. USA

; p ^MARINE MOTORS |

£ !;areGUARANTEEDto I

H - give SATISFACTION. I

I : r -PURABU IN CONSTRUCTION. -M

H ;*V~' r l woEasyahd safe >n \i

iV-i OPERATION. '

rt rr^iK^SENB FOR CATALOGUE AND

■ -INVESTIGATE OUR CLAIMS.

— TRU5C0TT BOAT M'F'GC0%
5T. JOSEPH, MICH. USA. ■

Buy Telephones

THAT ARE G00D-N0T " CHEAP THINGS."
The difference in cost is little. We guarantee
our apparatus and guarantee our customers
against loss by patent suits. Our guaran-
tee and Instruments are both good.
WESTERN TELEPHONE CONSTRUCTION CO.

250-254 South Clinton St., Chicago.
Largest Manufacturers of Telephones
exclusively in the United States.

A Bunch of Keys.

will not get lost or be left kn

rif yoi

pocket with one of these key

the door if you fasten it to your

chains. Holds firm and does
not tear the cloth. With steel
chain. By mail for 10 cents.
Aluminum or phosphor bronze
25 cents. Other useful novelties
made with Improved Wash-
burne Patent Fasteners,
described in an illus. book-
let, you can have tor the asking.
American Ring Co.* Box P, Waterbnry, Conn*

SCOP*?—
\J v ^ Catalogue

W. & D.MOGEY.

(Umtfmud on page SOT)

How to Build a Home

Those intending to build will And the very best practical sug-
gestions and examples of Modern Architecture in the handsomest
Architectural Magazine ever published . . .

"The Scientific American
Building Edition."

Each number 1b illustrated with a Colored plate and numerous
handsome engravings made direct from photographs oj buildings,
together with interior views, tloor plans, description, cost, locaUon.
owners' and architects' names and addresses. The illustrations
include seashore, southern, colonial and city residences, churches,
Bchools, public buildings, stables, carriage houses, etc.

All who contemplate building, or Improving homes or structures
of any kind, have in this handsome work an almost endless series of
the latest and best examples from which to make selections, thus saving time and money.

Published Monthly. Subscriptions $2.50 * Year. Single Copies 25 Cents.
Semi-Annual Bound Volumes. $2.00 each. Yearly Bound Volumes. $3.60 each.

'"■^^^""SSfc- MUNN & CO. Publishers, 361 Broadway, New York

) 1 898 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.